Homeowners to get 1st view of storm-hit island
Source: Agencies |
November 11, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HOMEOWNERS were returning to a 30-kilometer barrier island off New Jersey's Atlantic coast yesterday, giving some of them their first view of the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy.
Long Beach Island, an enclave of mostly affluent vacation homes, took a direct hit from Sandy, with some homes washed full of sand and seawater and others completely destroyed.
The island, with some 10,000 year-round residents and perhaps 10 times that number in the summer, has been closed to residents except for brief visits to retrieve belongings.
Sandy smashed into the United States East Coast on October 29, killing at least 120 people and causing an estimated US$50 billion in damage or economic losses. It destroyed homes along the New Jersey Shore and around New York City, cut off electricity for millions of people and knocked out much of the public transportation system.
Days later, protesters were demonstrating in the streets because they were still without power, gasoline rationing was in effect, and commuters struggled all week to get in and out of New York City.
Authorities warned that for coastal communities where thousands of homes were washed away, flooded, or burned to the ground, full recovery would take a long time. "This is not going to be a short journey," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference on Friday.
And New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who toured the Jersey Shore on Friday, said that many popular vacation spots will not be fully rebuilt by next summer. "This is our Katrina," he declared, referring to the hurricane that washed out New Orleans in 2005.
New Yorkers faced their second day of gasoline rationing yesterday. Under the system, which was introduced in New Jersey last week, cars with odd- and even-numbered license plates can fill up only on alternate days.
Some 28 percent of gas stations in the New York metropolitan area did not have fuel available for sale on Friday.
Long Beach Island, an enclave of mostly affluent vacation homes, took a direct hit from Sandy, with some homes washed full of sand and seawater and others completely destroyed.
The island, with some 10,000 year-round residents and perhaps 10 times that number in the summer, has been closed to residents except for brief visits to retrieve belongings.
Sandy smashed into the United States East Coast on October 29, killing at least 120 people and causing an estimated US$50 billion in damage or economic losses. It destroyed homes along the New Jersey Shore and around New York City, cut off electricity for millions of people and knocked out much of the public transportation system.
Days later, protesters were demonstrating in the streets because they were still without power, gasoline rationing was in effect, and commuters struggled all week to get in and out of New York City.
Authorities warned that for coastal communities where thousands of homes were washed away, flooded, or burned to the ground, full recovery would take a long time. "This is not going to be a short journey," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference on Friday.
And New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who toured the Jersey Shore on Friday, said that many popular vacation spots will not be fully rebuilt by next summer. "This is our Katrina," he declared, referring to the hurricane that washed out New Orleans in 2005.
New Yorkers faced their second day of gasoline rationing yesterday. Under the system, which was introduced in New Jersey last week, cars with odd- and even-numbered license plates can fill up only on alternate days.
Some 28 percent of gas stations in the New York metropolitan area did not have fuel available for sale on Friday.
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