Sandy survivors mark day that changed their lives

NEW YORK — Still shaken by the memories of Superstorm Sandy’s frightening tidal surge, survivors came together Tuesday to rebuild and remember the day that changed their lives forever.

Devastated residents recalled the help they got from strangers in the days and months after the storm. Some have mostly recovered from the storm, while others are still homeless or living without heat. In one touching moment, mothers sang “Happy birthday” to their 1-year-old babies who were rescued from darkened hospitals at Sandy’s peak.

Sandy came ashore on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey shore. In New York City, the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city’s subway and commuter rail tunnels and knocking out power to the southern third of Manhattan.

The storm was blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S. — including 68 in New York and 71 in New Jersey — and property damage estimated at $65 billion.

Here is a look at anniversary observances through a series of vignettes detailing how people are commemorating the unprecedented storm:

———

One year after Sandy, what Ellen Bednarz of Sayreville, N.J., remembered most was the kindness of the debris haulers who carted away the family’s ruined possessions.

“I never saw more caring people,” she said at an event to thank firefighters who used boats to rescue scores of people.

Before the storm hit, Bednarz and her family hastily moved their patio set, family room and office furniture to a storage unit and checked into a hotel. Only when they were allowed back to their split-level days later did they see the water had risen 14 feet — destroying everything, even the items the family had moved upstairs.

Bednarz is renting an apartment and waiting to close on a government home buyout.

“It’s over,” she said. “It’s probably one of the worst years of my life, but it’s behind me.”

———

Aiman Youssef found out the other day that one of his neighbors has been living in his own Staten Island garage.

He says many people in his shorefront neighborhood are still displaced or living in partially restored homes, often without basic facilities.

“A lot of people have moved out of the area,” Youssef said. “A lot of houses went into foreclosure.”

Some homeowners are still reluctant to accept help, Youssef said, while others have been stymied by bureaucracy.

He pointed to a bungalow across the street from his tent on Midland Avenue. A woman is living there without heat despite a city program that was supposed to restore heat, electric and water service, he said.

“We were lower middle class,” Youssef said. “Now we’re poor.”

———

When Sandy darkened much of the city, some New Yorkers were only hours old. Others weren’t even born.

On Tuesday, babies filled a Manhattan hospital room to celebrate their first birthdays — and their survival.

Kenneth Hulett III weighed only 2 pounds when emergency medical workers rushed him out of the New York Hospital intensive care unit and down the stairs while hooked up to an oxygen tank. His mother, Emily Blatt, says her faith sustained her as she was evacuated on an orange sled.

That day, more than 40 babies were safety moved from the hospital to other facilities.

On Tuesday, their parents and hospital staff lighted candles atop cupcakes and sang, “Happy birthday, dear babies.”

———

An accident of geography left Giuseppe and Innocenza Picheo with two New Jersey properties to rebuild after Sandy: a primary home in Moonachie and a second home in Manahawkin on Long Beach Island. The Moonachie house had “never had a drop of water” in 43 years before Sandy, Giuseppe Picheo said.

“Even now, I still think about it at night before I go to sleep,” Innocenza Picheo said. “When I go downstairs to wash clothes, I still look around and think about the water rushing in.”

Both properties have since been rebuilt with the help of volunteers from a church group. But Giuseppe Picheo knows others haven’t been as fortunate.

“I’m back to normal, but I feel very sorry for those who aren’t, especially now when you see all the images again,” he said.

———

The uneven nature of the recovery can be seen in places like the working-class Arverne section of the Rockaways, where many people are living in damaged homes they can’t afford to fully repair.

“When you drive around, it looks as if everything is OK. But everything is far from OK,” said pastor David Cockfield of the Battalion Pentecostal Assembly Church. “There is so much that is not being done.”

Residents and members of Cockfield’s congregation had a list of grievances Tuesday: While the city has been building flood defenses on the wealthier, beach side of the railroad tracks that split the peninsula, the mostly black neighborhood at the edge of Jamaica Bay has no sea wall or storm sewers, and it floods frequently with stinking water.

Moses Williams said the finished basement in his home is still a wreck because he can’t afford the $50,000 repair bill.

“You can smell the mold,” he said.

———

The lobby of the Wall Street Inn, a boutique hotel located in a 19th-century building in lower Manhattan, was lonely and empty. But manager Rachel Fogel said business is steady again despite initial fears that the hotel started by her grandfather might never come back.

The hotel was evacuated as the storm hit. The scene on South William Street the next day was discouraging, she said.

“It was dark. It was cold. It smelled like gasoline,” Fogel said.

Weeks of work was needed on basement electrical and heating systems before the hotel reopened in December. Contractors were the first post-storm guests.

Now the regulars are back. One was a man who came back months later to retrieve dry cleaning he sent on the eve of Sandy.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.