Hurricane Sandy: The Long Road Back

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The severity of the storm surge damage from Hurricane Sandy coupled with the inadequate 

financial aid to date has slowed the recovery process for many in the Long Beach area. While

there is progress being made, the lack of financial resources is slowing the rebuilding effort

for many people. Numerous people have taken out loans to cover a portion of their expenses.

There is a large number of displaced families renting apartments out of town as the status

of their homes in Long Beach remains uncertain. I spoke to several people who had their

contractors stop work once the insurance money was delayed or cut. The lucky residents

with lesser amounts of damage and more financial resources are gradually trying to return

to something that resembles normalcy.

 

I visited Long Beach on April 13th and took a series of photos documenting how things 

are coming along almost 6 months after Hurricane Sandy.

 

The Lido Towers condos located on the beach at the border of Long Beach and Lido

are hoping to have residents return in June. The ground floor was severely damaged

by the surge and much of the surrounding perimeter walls were knocked down by

the surge.

 

 

The neighborhood surrounding the canals on Reynolds Channel suffered extreme

surge damage with an auto fire which destroyed  8 houses. 

 

 

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PODS storage units dot the landscape as peoples homes are being repaired.

 

 

 

Many lawns still retain the high saltwater mark from Sandy. Several residents have already replaced

their old damaged lawns and vegetation.

 

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Long Beach Hospital remains closed as very expensive repairs are still ongoing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plans are in place to begin rebuilding the boardwalk in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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65 West Broadway is still under renovation due to flooding and had a section of the roof blown

off which is still covered by a tarp.

 

 

Most of the sand that was pushed up onto the streets has been returned to the beach 

after being sifted for debris. 

 

[MJO812]

Some places are still closed around Sheepshead Bay

[CIK62]

Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY has multiple projects ongoing to build new space age looking bathrooms, lifeguard and First Aid Stations which will be on stilts 10 or 15 feet above the 3 mile long beach.   The rides in the amusement district have almost all been restored and have already been open for holidays last month.   The boardwalk and the business on it weathered the storm surge very well and needed little structural repair just rewiring in places. The lights on the bw seem to be out since storm however.  The Steeplechase Pier did have deck damage which is under repair  (a crane mounted barge sank a few days ago next to the pier and has slowed progress).   Nathan's Famous Rest. on Stillwell and Surf Aves. remains closed till MDW.   The NY Aquarium which was almost wiped out is set reopen partially by MDW.   A Key Food supermarket at W. 5th. and Neptune Aves. remains closed for repairs and insurance monies.  Also a problem with Con Ed hookup.   However, a Russian supermarket at W. 6th. was able to renew itself within two months of the storm.   Two McDonald's restaurants are closed, do not know what is happening there.   The residential area to the west probably still has individual problems in certain buildings.   Sea Gate (private zone at western tip of CI) remains vulnerable to new storms as it always has.   Army Corp to perform massive beach nourishment at some point in future for the whole peninsula.

Remember that CI had water come from the creek and Gravesend Bay as well as the ocean.    Army Corp says a Cat. 3 storm with all other conditions remaining as they were in Sandy, would create a 22' surge here----was 13'-14' this time I think.

[Allsnow]

Great thread

[BxEngine]

How did Lido beach do? Havent heard or seen many pics from that area at all.

[jm1220]

How did Lido beach do? Havent heard or seen many pics from that area at all.

There was quite a bit of damage for much of that area. Long Beach School District's administration building had to be condemned I believe, and both the Middle School and Lido Elementary School had severe damage. Long Beach High School which is right on the bay had severe damage to first floor facilities, but many of the classrooms are on higher floors. The Lido Towers area which was shown was devastated. Other areas though had little real damage. The further east on the island you go, the better generally people made out. Point Lookout mainly had damage to the bayside, but the ocean side wasn't damaged very much. My friend who lives there just had some basement flooding. By far, the worst of the damage seemed to be to Long Beach. Atlantic Beach also suffered less damage generally.

 

I definitely agree about the PODS units showing up all over town, because of the city no longer disposing of debris. Just on my street there are 4 such units. Between 850 and 900 homes still must be either bulldozed or raised to meet new flood guidelines, and money has been extremely slow in coming for many. In parts of town, neighborhoods are still largely abandoned because of the lack of ability to start work. Many people will likely just sell their homes and move on. The water outside my house was approximately 3-4 feet deep, and our first floor was essentially wiped out completely. Some homes near me had foundation damage and will likely have to be razed. It will be a much different looking Long Beach when the recovery is finally complete. This was by far the most destructive storm to hit here since 1938.

[Kaner587]

What I don't understand is after Katrina bush was ripped apart becouse of everything and anything that went wrong but yet nobody is ripping OBAMA apart for the lack of support some places have gotten for instance why should these people who lost everything have to rent an apartment now. Where are all the trailers that were made available to Katrina residents from the federal gov. They said they were goimg to send trailers up but yet all you hear is about these people who haves lost everything that now have to pay rent every month or hotel bills..... Sorry but maybe its time OBAMA is held responsible for his screw ups.........

Aside from being mis informed you aren't posting facts here buddy. Take some time to research the topic before looking to blame somebody, especially when you yourself are not one of the people who are homeless.

Politics really has no place in here and the response and action taken is quite different than what went on in Katrina. Horrible comparison. In addition to the fact that the damage in Katrina ended up being worse

[jm1220]

What I don't understand is after Katrina bush was ripped apart becouse of everything and anything that went wrong but yet nobody is ripping OBAMA apart for the lack of support some places have gotten for instance why should these people who lost everything have to rent an apartment now. Where are all the trailers that were made available to Katrina residents from the federal gov. They said they were goimg to send trailers up but yet all you hear is about these people who haves lost everything that now have to pay rent every month or hotel bills..... Sorry but maybe its time OBAMA is held responsible for his screw ups.........

Keep the political BS in the appropriate forum, and why no similar distaste for Republicans who shot down the $60 billion Sandy relief package? That money was not needed in any way?

[Kaner587]

Keep the political BS in the appropriate forum, and why no similar distaste for Republicans who shot down the $60 billion Sandy relief package? That money was not needed in any way?

Ya he was clearly spewing political bs not rooted in reality. It has no place in this forum

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

There was quite a bit of damage for much of that area. Long Beach School District's administration building had to be condemned I believe, and both the Middle School and Lido Elementary School had severe damage. Long Beach High School which is right on the bay had severe damage to first floor facilities, but many of the classrooms are on higher floors. The Lido Towers area which was shown was devastated. Other areas though had little real damage. The further east on the island you go, the better generally people made out. Point Lookout mainly had damage to the bayside, but the ocean side wasn't damaged very much. My friend who lives there just had some basement flooding. By far, the worst of the damage seemed to be to Long Beach. Atlantic Beach also suffered less damage generally.

 

I definitely agree about the PODS units showing up all over town, because of the city no longer disposing of debris. Just on my street there are 4 such units. Between 850 and 900 homes still must be either bulldozed or raised to meet new flood guidelines, and money has been extremely slow in coming for many. In parts of town, neighborhoods are still largely abandoned because of the lack of ability to start work. Many people will likely just sell their homes and move on. The water outside my house was approximately 3-4 feet deep, and our first floor was essentially wiped out completely. Some homes near me had foundation damage and will likely have to be razed. It will be a much different looking Long Beach when the recovery is finally complete. This was by far the most destructive storm to hit here since 1938.

 

I have mentioned it before but LB dug its own grave and I was partially responsible... Back in 06 when the acoe offered to build a protective dune and wall the length of the boardwalk the people voted it down. For view issues but  more importantly because dredging would ruin the surf breaks so surfrider  and local surfers (myself included) put an end to that. 

 

The reason the Eastern end of the island fared so well is because of the preexistence of a natural dune system that stopped the surge. Had such system been in place in the heart of LB ocean side damage would have been far far less. (the boardwalk would have survided)

 

East at Jones Beach the not so smart NYS Parks rebuilt destroyed buildings (including my life guard shack) right onto the old foundations!!!

 

You really cant make that up!!!! Good job New York State!

[BxEngine]

Talk about being misinformed. You really shoud read up on the whole relief package and then maybe you'll understand why it was voted down by republicans the first time!!!!

There is a politics forum here for you to post in.

[Sickman]

There is a politics forum here for you to post in.

 

Sound advice.

[jm1220]

I have mentioned it before but LB dug its own grave and I was partially responsible... Back in 06 when the acoe offered to build a protective dune and wall the length of the boardwalk the people voted it down. For view issues but  more importantly because dredging would ruin the surf breaks so surfrider  and local surfers (myself included) put an end to that. 

 

The reason the Eastern end of the island fared so well is because of the preexistence of a natural dune system that stopped the surge. Had such system been in place in the heart of LB ocean side damage would have been far far less. (the boardwalk would have survided)

 

East at Jones Beach the not so smart NYS Parks rebuilt destroyed buildings (including my life guard shack) right onto the old foundations!!!

 

You really cant make that up!!!! Good job New York State!

In a way, Long Beach was lucky in that buildings weren't washed away into the sea like in NJ. The large condo buildings likely stopped the initial push of the surge enough to protect the homes behind them. As the evacuation rate for Long Beach was quite low, the death toll likely would have been greater without the row of 70+ foot tall condos. I'm still stunned and very happy that the death toll was so low for such an event (considering how many people live in the affected areas). On the beach itself, any structure was completely destroyed, even solid concrete structures. The surge up here was about the same height as the surge on the NJ coast, the highest was over Staten Island, Brooklyn and up NY Harbor.

 

I'm not sure much damage would have been prevented with solely a bigger dune, since the bay side floding would have come down from the north instead. The drainage systems also all backed up, and water came through pipes. Any which way you cut it, we were screwed. Hopefuly we do the right things now to prevent another such occurrence.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

In a way, Long Beach was lucky in that buildings weren't washed away into the sea like in NJ. The large condo buildings likely stopped the initial push of the surge enough to protect the homes behind them. As the evacuation rate for Long Beach was quite low, the death toll likely would have been greater without the row of 70+ foot tall condos. I'm still stunned and very happy that the death toll was so low for such an event (considering how many people live in the affected areas). On the beach itself, any structure was completely destroyed, even solid concrete structures. The surge up here was about the same height as the surge on the NJ coast, the highest was over Staten Island, Brooklyn and up NY Harbor.

 

I'm not sure much damage would have been prevented with solely a bigger dune, since the bay side floding would have come down from the north instead. The drainage systems also all backed up, and water came through pipes. Any which way you cut it, we were screwed. Hopefuly we do the right things now to prevent another such occurrence.

 

Unfortunately you are absolutely right about the bay side flooding. Really, how do you stop that. As a matter of practicality without building Netherlands style leaves you cant.

 

I do think though, a 14 foot dune and wall would have saved the boardwalk as evidenced by the lack of damage in the Lido ocean side area where the dunes held very well. Dunes exist for a reason on barrier islands if they are big enough they work.

[jm1220]

Unfortunately you are absolutely right about the bay side flooding. Really, how do you stop that. As a matter of practicality without building Netherlands style leaves you cant.

 

I do think though, a 14 foot dune and wall would have saved the boardwalk as evidenced by the lack of damage in the Lido ocean side area where the dunes held very well. Dunes exist for a reason on barrier islands if they are big enough they work.

The bad truth is that Long Beach is a barrier island, which is meant to take the brunt of surges such as these, in order to protect the mainland. It will be very difficult and expensive to fully implement changes which would appreciably reduce damage in a future Sandy. You would essentially have to stop water from coming in every direction, instead of from just one direction like mainland areas. Even if you block the surge from the ocean, the surge would move around that barrier and instead come in from behind. The bay was as much a problem for homes as the ocean was. I live near the bay and for us, that's what flooded in addition to the pipes.

[TWCCraig]

Down by the bay. Lots of places opened. One thing to take notice of is the complete devistation of the vegitation. Tree after tree...dead.

[Rjay]

Still a few places on the Nautical Mile in Freeport closed. I have checked back every month and they are making tremendous headway in their recovery. The first couple months after Sandy looked like warzone with the amount of debris and a couple burnt down shops/bars/restaurants.

[ict1523]

Went to the Rockaways today. Looked pretty sad. While a lot of progress in the recovery has been made, its not totally there yet, or even close. Some businesses have recently re-opened, however a lot are still boarded up. Some homes are being rebuilt, others are abandoned and probably uninhabitable. Some empty lots where homes either burned down during Sandy or have been since demolished. 

 

At the same time though, subway service has been restored, and work is being done to bring Rockaway Beach back. Very eerie without the boardwalk though. 

[jm1220]

There is still no boardwalk here in Long Beach, although sections of it are being worked on finally. The hospital is still closed and there is no estimate as to when it will reopen, given unexpected setbacks in replacing equipment. One elementary school is still closed and the main school district administration building has been condemned and will be torn down. Many homes, hundreds I'd say, are still sitting around in need of repairs because of lack of funding from insurance. Many have been torn down and are being rebuilt, or are being raised in accordance with new flood codes. In total, almost 900 homes in Long Beach needed to be torn down or raised. It's a very uneven recovery still, with the bars/restaurants largely back open and bustling on weekends, but some still in need of a lot of work, or even to be rebuilt such as with the Knights of Columbus in town which served as a recovery center in the immediate aftermath. It burned down in a generator-fueled blaze in early December. I'm one of the fortunate ones who has mostly recovered, but many are still out of their homes. Still a very long way to go for a lot of people. The pictures of the devastation here are not as striking as what you might see in Breezy Point or Seaside Heights, but I would say it is just as severe because the insides of the homes were destroyed.

[RutgersWx92]

Went to Seaside Heights on Sunday; was good to see the boardwalk rebuilt and back in running, minus the rides of course.  Still saw some extensive damage while driving through Mantaloking, Lavallette, and Ortley, including some homes that are partially or completely destroyed, and even some lifted off their foundations.  The road to recovery for the shore is long, but it's still amazing how much progress has been made in the last seven months.

[SnoSki14]

I pray to god we don't see another coastal blow this season given how vulnerable we remain, but I have a bad feeling about this season.

[ak22]

Still lots of damage to be seen down in the Mantoloking/Bay Head/Pt Pleasant/Manasquan area.  I don't own, but spent the last 11 summers down there, and when I saw the damage still around on Memorial Day weekend, I was upset.  Probably the saddest thing I saw was a tiny house right off the inlet in Manasquan (down from the Riverside Cafe for those who know the area) that is obviously destroyed, but still has the Halloween decoration on the door.  The house was lost, but somehow the black cat saying boo survived. 

[jm1220]

I pray to god we don't see another coastal blow this season given how vulnerable we remain, but I have a bad feeling about this season.

 

These episodes seem to come in bunches-we had it bad through the 1940s and 1950s, ending with Donna, and we may be in another bad period now. Hopefully Sandy was the worst of these-it was certainly worse than anything the NYC area saw since 1938 and possibly long before then. We hugely lucked out during the Nor'easter season and even the November 7th event-had it tracked further west we would have had strong southerly winds again and a storm surge to a defenseless beach. Most of the sand has been put back now at least. We lost five feet of sand elevation after Sandy-much of it washed out to sea and much of it washed right into town and took cars/debris with it.

[SnoSki14]

These episodes seem to come in bunches-we had it bad through the 1940s and 1950s, ending with Donna, and we may be in another bad period now. Hopefully Sandy was the worst of these-it was certainly worse than anything the NYC area saw since 1938 and possibly long before then. We hugely lucked out during the Nor'easter season and even the November 7th event-had it tracked further west we would have had strong southerly winds again and a storm surge to a defenseless beach. Most of the sand has been put back now at least. We lost five feet of sand elevation after Sandy-much of it washed out to sea and much of it washed right into town and took cars/debris with it.

Exactly and the cycle is probably not over, we are already going to be dealing with tropical effects from Andreas remnants.

And Sandy was far from the worst case in terms of intensity. One day a major hurricane could take a similar track to Sandy, or something along the lines of in between Sandy and Irene and the recovery time for that type of damage would be years not months.

If a large 80 mph storm did that much damage, a 120 mph large storm would be unimaginable.

[jm1220]

Exactly and the cycle is probably not over, we are already going to be dealing with tropical effects from Andreas remnants.

And Sandy was far from the worst case in terms of intensity. One day a major hurricane could take a similar track to Sandy, or something along the lines of in between Sandy and Irene and the recovery time for that type of damage would be years not months.

If a large 80 mph storm did that much damage, a 120 mph large storm would be unimaginable.

What made Sandy so bad though was the "Perfect Storm" style phase with the incoming trough and blocking from the Greenland high, conditions which are very difficult to come by in October, much less when such an intense hurricane would be likely, in Aug/Sept. A strong hurricane like that on its own would be bad, but a parallel-the-coast track would annihilate it with dry air, like what happened with Irene and Gloria (although Gloria was lucky to hit at low tide). There almost has to be some kind of phase or mid-latitude help to get a very intense hurricane up here. A Perfect Storm like Sandy coming ashore is likely the worst case scenario-and Sandy was much stronger than 1991's Perfect Storm, however devastating that would have been had it come ashore instead of pinwheel off New England. I guess Sandy would have been worse had it not interacted with Cuba and Jamaica first, but the mid latitude effects also caused shear initially which disrupted it a lot-at one point Sandy was scoured out by dry air and shear.

[SnoSki14]

Which is probably why the best way to get a powerful hurricane up here is something along the lines of 1938, partial phasing with a trough, a strong blocking high near Newfoundland.

Agreed though that the track especially was a worse case scenario and extremely rare, the phase with the trough also made it massive, which contributed to Sandys very low pressure and dangerous surge.