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Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later
The boardwalk and amusement park in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy on October 31, 2012. CNN's Indra Petersons reports from the area this morning, one year after the storm.
Here is an animation that shows how huge Sandy was compared to Hurricane Irene, which happened the year before.
President Obama and Governor Christie tour storm-battered New Jersey shore – CNN's Jessica Yellin reports
President Obama and Governor Chris Christie renewing their bromance with a tour of the jersey shore Tuesday promoting a big summer comeback. A credit they say to cooperation between federal and state governments.
But the union is not without its risks as CNN's Jessica Yellin reports.
READ MORE: Jersey Shore reunion for Obama, Christie
The race is on to turn Jersey Shore into a summer paradise – CNN's Poppy Harlow reports
Memorial day brings the unofficial start to summer and many businesses on the sandy-battered east coast are still recovering.
In a new triple-a poll, 79% of travelers say the storm has not changed their summer plans.
69% say they'll spend the same or more time at the Jersey Shore.
– CNN's Poppy Harlow reports
Statue of Liberty faces massive clean up after Superstorm Sandy; CNN's Zoraida Sambolin surveys the damage
The damage done by Superstorm Sandy is still lingering in New York even one month later. The iconic Statue of Liberty faced the brunt of the storm. Though Lady Liberty still stands tall, her beacon of light is littered with debris. Zoraida Sambolin had visited the recently renovated statue just before the storm had hit, when it was preparing to reopen to the public. Today, “while the statue itself is intact, the grounds suffered enough damage to force the closure of the park to the public indefinitely,” she says. “The national park service is now in the midst of a massive clean up effort in hopes of reopening both [the Liberty and Ellis Island] parks sometime early next year.”
She returned to the Statue of Liberty yesterday to see that Liberty Island had suffered devastation from the storm all around. The effects of Sandy were not just structural. Regularly, about 160 people work on the Island between the concession area and the park staff. “Concession workers and ferry employees were laid off this week due to the extended closure of both islands,” Sambolin reports. Park employees were sent to other parks. But Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty, Dave Luchsinger, sees better days ahead. “To see it in the state it's in right now,” he says about the statue, “I know it's going to be better.”
Car, tow truck scams rampant in NYC area after Sandy – Susan Candiotti reports
Superstorm Sandy has left a massive clean up operation in its wake, but residents are now facing a new threat: scams.
The biggest one at the moment involves towing companies which may be taking advantage of the disaster, ripping off cars and leaving owners caught off guard.
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti joins the New York Police Department in pursuit of con artists looking to profit off of a disaster.
Sr. Med.Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen surveys the damage from Sandy to NYU Langone Medical Center, 'ruined by more than 10 million gallons of flood water'
NYU Langone Medical Center caught media attention during Superstorm Sandy when the hospital was forced to evacuate hundreds of patients, including infant babies, while the storm raged on. The center suffered extensive flood damage, and now a massive cleanup operation is underway. CNN was the first network to be allowed to have cameras inside to see the damage. Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen surveyed the damage.
The hospital was “ruined by more than 10 million gallons of flood water,” Cohen reports. It's been pumped out, but Cohen and her guide Richard Cohen, the Vice President of Facilities Operations, wear a mask because of the smell left behind. In the cellar, the water destroyed several million dollars worth of equipment in an MRI suite. On the first floor, the water was so high people could have almost been under water. A lecture hall “became a swimming pool.”
“NYU Langone has brought in hundreds of clean up workers,” Cohen reports, “some with specialized skills from around the country.” “Clean up is 24/7, expected to cost around $700 million.”
NYU Langone's Chairman of the Board, Ken Langone, was a patient at the hospital the night of the storm. He was recovering from pneumonia and walked out the building during the evacuation. “They woke me up and said we're evacuating,” Langone says. “And I said ‘fine.’ So I got up and brushed my teeth, put my clothes on and I said ‘let's go.’”
Now many rooms throughout the medical center are idle. Langone says he hopes they will be up and running again in about four weeks.
Obama makes commitment of help to Staten Island couple devastated by Sandy, Mary Snow reports
Hard hit residents of Staten Island are dealing with the third week of the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Nick and Diane Camerada are two of them. CNN’s Mary Snow talks to the Cameradas about how they are coping.
While others in his community were anticipating a visit from President Obama to survey the damage there, Nick's mission was “keeping the heat on in his family's Staten Island house.” Snow says Nick “was more concerned with working on the boiler he was able to rig up just Wednesday to provide heat.”
CNN first caught up with the Cameradas last week as Nick described his harrowing experience.
“I went through the most pain that I ever went through in my whole life,” Nick had said, “from being electrocuted trying to get back into my house to watching everything, all my possessions and my family practically almost dying.”
Friends and relatives of the couple have been offering help since then, even delivering gasoline for the generator.
The Cameradas plan to rebuild their home, Snow reports. “But they say the 19- thousand-dollars they've been told they can get in government aid won't be enough—and feared the President wouldn't see how bad the damage really is.”
Nick says everything's all cleaned up now, but “it wasn’t pretty like this” the last few days. “They cleaned up now because the president is coming down to see the progress that was made down here.”
The Cameradas were able to speak about their struggles to President Obama once he arrived. Obama said he was committed to helping them out. “I'm gonna stay on it,” Obama said. “I’m not gonna be a stranger and suddenly forget all about it.”
They say they’ll see if Obama keeps his word on their road to recovery. “We’re gonna see the real Barack Obama,” Nick says, “his true colors.”
Snow says the Camerada’s “home still has no electricity and they learned of a potential setback. The gas line may be shut down while repairs are made, leaving them in the cold once again.”
Outrage grows at LIPA as power woes plague residents after Sandy – Deb Feyerick reports
Residents of Long Island are still suffering from the effects of Superstorm Sandy. Loss of power continues to be an issue for thousands of people more than two weeks since the storm hit, and they have yet to hear from the source of their problems: the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which failed to make basic preparations. LIPA is now the target of a class-action lawsuit and its chief operating officer is stepping down. CNN’s Deborah Feyerick has more on the story.
“People on Long Island are tired of the cold, the dark, and the run around from the power company out here—known as LIPA,” Feyerick reports.
She says CNN tried to get answers from LIPA's Chief Operating Officer, Michael Hervey, before receiving word of his resignation. A note on LIPA’s office doors read “the offices are temporarily closed. All employees are currently assisting with the storm effort.” LIPA informed Feyerick that Hervey was not available the rest of the day, and would not make any other officials available for an interview with CNN either.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is now calling for an investigation into LIPA. Governor Cuomo has said, “Many of these systems were failing to begin with.”
LIPA says they began replacing the system, Feyerick reports. The entire process is expected to take between 18 months to two years to complete.
New York's Belle Harbor residents fed up, demand power two weeks after Sandy – Victor Blackwell reports
Thousands of people in New York City and Long Island are now entering week three without power after superstorm Sandy. And anger is boiling over, especially at LIPA, the power company that serves Long Island and hard-hit Far Rockaway in Queens.
This morning on "Early Start," CNN's Victor Blackwell reports live from Belle Harbor on the latest.
Sandy leaves New York's Far Rockaway in cold, dark – Victor Blackwell reports
Far Rockaway, New York (CNN) - First Sandy. Then a nor'easter. Residents in this small hamlet at the eastern edge of Rockaway Peninsula are exhausted and on edge.
Eleven days after Superstorm Sandy made landfall, flooding nearly all of the Rockaways, they are still cold and in the dark.
Huddled beneath blankets and with the car's heat cranked up, 56-year-old Matt Lintonmapp Jr. has spent every night sleeping in his car since Sandy left him homeless.
Earlier in the week, fistfights broke out at relief supply depots in Far Rockaway, Queens, just as the first snowfall of the year blanketed the region and ushered in fresh misery to those already battered by Sandy.
Clean, running water is also in shorter supply across the peninsula in the wake of the crisis. Some residents were seen carrying buckets of water to wash down their toilets. Others boiled water to drink later or use for cooking. Still, gas remains the crucial thing here.
This morning on "Early Start," CNN's Victor Blackwell reports on how residents are coping after Sandy as they enter a third week without power or heat.
READ MORE: Still in the dark, frustration mounts in New York neighborhood
