Editorial

After Sandy, progress, but we’re not fully restored

Posted

Hurricane Sandy was special –– in a wicked sort of way.

Like no other storm since the Long Island Express of 1938, this monster tempest, which struck in the middle of the night on Oct. 29, 2012, ripped apart Long Island’s South Shore, inundating thousands of homes and businesses with saltwater and sewage, lifting docks off their moorings and depositing them miles away, tearing hot tubs from backyard decks and dumping them in the canals that line the coast, and sending boats, big and small, hurtling up on front lawns and out to sea.

It was our worst nightmare realized.

But Sandy did not destroy us. In many ways, it strengthened us. We came together to help one another. In an all-hands-on-deck effort, we restored much of what was lost. Homes were repaired. Businesses came back. Infrastructure was hardened.

We are not yet whole again, however. Too many home and business owners have not rebuilt, their houses, shops and restaurants mere shells of their former selves, as illustrated by our “Shoring Up Our Future” series earlier this year. In some cases, insurance companies did not pay up as they should have. In others, government didn’t come to the rescue as it should have.

We mustn’t forget the folks who are still suffering because of Sandy. We must continue to demand action, from insurers and our government, at the federal, state and local levels. When everyone is back to normal, then we can say the South Shore is truly back.

When weather prognosticators recently sounded the alarm to warn us that Hurricane Joaquin might march up the East Coast and slam into the metropolitan area, we understood better how to prepare. Unlike the days before Hurricane Sandy, we knew we mustn’t stay in the potential flood zone south of Merrick Road. We knew we would have to evacuate if necessary. That alone is progress.

We were thankful that Joaquin drifted out to sea. We could breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s not over, though –– not by a long shot.

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