Hurricane Sandy was our worst nightmare realized. This monster storm packed as much energy as two World War II era atomic bombs, causing massive destruction, the likes of which had not been seen since the Long Island Express of 1938, a now legendary Category III hurricane. Trapped on an island jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, we were front and center when Sandy attacked with a vengeance. Thousands of homes were inundated with seawater and sewage. Hundreds were left uninhabitable. Two and a half years later, we continue to rebuild our tattered shoreline. In this series we will look in the coming months at the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s ongoing effort to reconstruct worst-case homes, businesses and communities that Sandy ravaged on Oct. 29, 2012 — and the myriad issues that residents and officials face as they piece together our shredded infrastructure. At the same time, we will look at state and local officials’ efforts to reinforce Long Island in the hope that we might be able to withstand nature’s fury better when the next monster storm hits. —Scott Brinton, senior editor more

After Hurricane Sandy, I was lost. I had been hurt on the job just a few months before the storm, and I was unable to move anything. I lost a lifetime of treasures in the storm, including my high … more

Erin Bianco, a Lynbrook resident who lived in East Rockaway when the storm hit, said she would remember the kindness and charity the storm brought out. “The silver lining in all of this was when … more

For local residents, Oct. 29, 2012 will be one of a handful of historic dates that those on the south shore of Long Island will remember for the rest of their lives, talking about where they were … more

“What happened with Sandy is really a metaphor with what’s happening in Washington,” U.S. Rep. Peter … more

By Mary Malloy mmalloy@liherald.com The communities of Bay Park and East Rockaway held their first New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program’s public engagement meeting on Oct. 15 in … more

South Shore residents have returned to their normal lives in the months since Hurricane Sandy, but many people’s thoughts are starting to turn to the potential for another big storm. Is it possible to stop the floodwaters that inundated coastal neighborhoods? they wonder. more

When Hurricane Sandy struck on Oct. 29, it inundated thousands of South Shore yards with saltwater, which is awful for lawns and most plants. Over the past 4½ months, homeowners have watched helplessly as their hydrangeas have shriveled up, their boxwoods have turned rust-colored and their grass has become a mottled patch of brown and more brown. In many cases, years’ worth of yard work, valued at thousands of dollars, was seemingly destroyed in a single night. more

The11518 organization has organized a candlelit reflection ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the storm that changed the lives of many people. On Tues., Oct. at 7 p.m., community … more

Melanie Siegel Rubin’s south Merrick home was, like hundreds of homes across the South Shore, flooded when Hurricane Sandy struck on Oct. 29. Saltwater inundated the front entrance and back laundry room. She did not realize, however, that water had soaked through her plywood subfloor when her crawl space flooded. more