Originally posted in Long Island Press by Timothy Bolger and Rashed Mian

October 29, 2014

Two years ago Wednesday, the infamous Superstorm Sandy slammed Long Island, knocking out utilities, leaving thousands homeless and washing out roadways—leaving in its wake a recovery effort that is still continuing.

Stories that emerged in the aftermath ranged from heartbreaking tales of neighborhoods swamped in floodwaters to uplifting anecdotes about communities rallying together to support one another. It brought out the best in many, but some saw it as an opportunity to make fast cash. Despite the widespread devastation, there was a bright side.

“Superstorm Sandy was a tragedy that wreaked havoc on the metropolitan area, but…there is a silver lining,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said, referring to what he called “a historic $17 billion federal investment has been spent to make New York’s infrastructure more resilient, greener and stronger.”

About 150 lives were lost in the storm, including 53 in New York—13 of whom were on LI. Millions were displaced across the East Coast, with about 40,000 in The Empire State. Causing $65 billion in damage in the region, the storm was the second costliest on record—behind only Katrina.

Like any catastrophe, winners and losers emerged from the wreckage. What follows is a ranking of those on LI who came out of Sandy for better, or for worse.

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WINNER: BEACHES
New York State wasted no time in rebuilding dunes and pumping sand to rebuild Gilgo through Tobay beaches, thereby buffering Ocean Parkway, which was partly washed out in Sandy. Badly eroded North Shore beaches too, including one in Asharoken village, are getting replacement sand, too. But that’s not all. The Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point Project (FIMP), a storm-mitigation plan for 83 miles of eastern LI coast, had been debated for a half century—often about who was going to pay for it. Then came Sandy. The project was earmarked to get $700 million in the ensuing federal aid package. Interim projects to rebuild the dunes on FI and in Montauk are expected to lead off the massive job. Although a lawsuit by Audubon New York seeking to block the FI plan out of concern for its impact on endangered Piping Plovers was just dismissed, a trickier question looms: Will owners of the oceanfront properties in the way take buyouts or fight condemnation, potentially dooming dune rebuilding?