Superstorm Sandy: One Year Later

One year after Superstorm Sandy flooded hundreds of miles of the coastline along the Eastern United States, thousands of people are still trying to repair their homes and businesses.

A block of homes in Manahawkin, New Jersey, appears normal at first glance. But when you look inside, you realize they are all empty.

Michael and Maureen Mazzucca own one of these homes. One year on, they continue to live in a hotel room while they use their savings to rebuild their house—this time on stilts.

SOUNDBITE (English): Maureen Mazzucca, New Jersey:

“fema, the federal government, with all these associations that say they want to help you, but in the end you don’t qualify for anything. I mean we don’t even know, to be honest, whether we’ll be able to afford to keep our house once we’re in it.”

Sandy claimed 181 lives and caused an estimated $65 billion in damage. It damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Whole chunks of New York’s Rockaway Beach shoreline are gone.

This week, New York City Deputy Mayor of Operations Cas Holloway even had dire news for residents whose homes survived the storm.

SOUNDBITE: Cas Holloway, NYC Deputy Mayor of Operations:

“People are going to find that they either have to pay totally unaffordable premiums or they’re going to have to decide to live somewhere else.”

Business owners are also struggling. In Manhattan, businesses at the South Street Seaport were wiped out when the city flooded with six feet of water.

Long after politicians gave their speeches and left, the devastation from Superstorm Sandy remains. Empty political promises won’t solve these residents’ difficulties. But there are solutions. To understand God’s solution to problems like Sandy, read our free booklet Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?