These are just some personal photographs I took after Hurricane Sandy hit us in Long Island. Unfortunately some of my pictures were accidentally deleted from this period. Still, I have some to offer and some insights into what I saw. Most of these pictures come from The Long Beach area.
The devastation of the houses in these neighborhoods was huge. May houses had 4-5 feet of water in them.
On street after street, the entire contents of houses, including walls and floors, were stripped out into the streets.
Because sewers backed up, the growth of mold in houses was very rapid, making the demolition of the effected areas and urgency.
To add insult to injury, a nor’easter storm followed Hurricane Sandy, bringing snow and more flooding.
Electrical power was out for weeks. Street lights were not working. Generators were everywhere.
Gangs of sanitation crews worked for more than a month trying to remove the ever appearing piles of refuse.
Because of mold concerns, there was an urgency to remove these piles of possessions and construction materials festering in the streets.
Heavy equipment had to me mobilized.
These picker trucks were everywhere.
For the most part, all of the debris was trucked to open concrete slabs in the area, (some having to do with the airports in the area), to get it away from residents. Further processing was needed to actually get in to landfills.
There were massive long lines at the gas stations, especially because of lack of electricity, and the gas stations not having generators.
One of many trees dropped by the wind and the water.
This back deck was ripped off the back of the house and came to rest on an outdoor gas grill.
Fences were torn every where.
You can see the waterlines on these interior walls.
A massive floor being torn up.
