Hurricane Survivors

Photos Surface in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy (Photos)

The storm claimed many mementos from a lifetime. A look at the images left behind. By Nina Strochlic.

Jason DeCrow / AP Photo

By Nina StrochlicNov 16, 2012

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories4_asxtps — When flood waters from Hurricane Sandy rushed through coastal areas of New York and New Jersey, precious memories were swept away. Now, residents are trying to piece their lives back together through photographs and other nostalgic treasures rescued from the storm.

A photograph floats just below the surface of a flooded street in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy on Oct. 30, in Massapequa, N.Y.
Jason DeCrow / AP Photo

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories1_s5nzmj — Family members try to recover photographs and other personal items from the basement of Sheila and Dominic Traina’s destroyed home on New York’s Staten Island.
Seth Wenig / AP Photo

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories7_r1s3zm — Frank Burfeind displays a wedding photo salvaged from a flood-damaged home in the Ocean Breeze area of Staten Island. The photo was of his friend Alicia Kataldo and her father, Billy Hague. Most homes in the seaside community were inundated by the ocean surge caused by superstorm Sandy.
John Moore / Getty Images

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories6_ysbsjk — Ginny Flanagan and her sister go through photographs and mementos that were recovered from her flooded bungalow in Breezy Point in the wake of superstorm Sandy on Nov. 4. The beachfront enclave, heavily populated by firefighters and police officers, was devastated during the storm when a fire pushed by Sandy's raging winds destroyed 100 or more homes and buildings.
Kathy Willens / AP Photo

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories3_pwymmk — A photo surfaces, caked in mud after flood waters receded on Nov. 1 in Hoboken, N.J. Residents continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall along the New Jersey shore and left parts of the state and the surrounding areas flooded and without power.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories2_q25lkf — Personal effects are left out on a doorstep following Hurricane Sandy in Hoboken. The storm claimed many lives in the United States and caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard.
Michael Bocchieri / Getty Images

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories5_sper8m — Photographs of Elliott Miller's wedding day and graduation lay on a snow covered bench, as Jeanene Miller tries to dry out snapshots of her inlaws. The pictures were damaged during floods caused by superstorm Sandy in Point Pleasant, N.J.
Julio Cortez / AP Photo

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories8_rsiq7a — Steve Zboinski searches his house for valuables worth saving in Midland Beach, Staten Island, a few days after Sandy struck.
Andrew Burton / Getty Images

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories9_vloxfs — In Hoboken, a photo of happier, and sunnier, days is left stuck in the mud.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images

galleries/2012/11/16/photos-surface-in-the-wake-of-hurricane-sandy-photos/15lost-memories10_y63nc7 — Frank Burfeind displays a photo album salvaged from a flood-damaged home in the Ocean Breeze area of Staten Island. Most homes in the seaside community were inundated by the ocean surge caused by superstorm Sandy.
John Moore / Getty Images

TRENDING NOW