Hurricane Sandy aftermath

Hundreds of people affected by Sandy wait in line for distributions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Red Cross and other aid organizations on Nov. 17 in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. FEMA says it is extending, by a month, a program providing temporary housing to New Yorkers displaced by Superstorm Sandy.

A volunteer checks Donald Vaughn, who had not been able to keep a dialysis appointment, in his apartment at a public housing facility in the Rockaway section of the Queens borough of New York on Nov. 17. Some residents have struggled to get their lives back to normal more than two weeks after Hurricane Sandy since some essential services have yet to return to parts of the city.

Contractors dig several feet of sand out of a garage after it was deposited by the storm surge from Sandy in Mantoloking, N.J. on Nov. 16.

Destroyed rides sit on the beach from the Funtown Pier on Nov. 16 in Seaside Heights, N.J. Two amusement piers and a number of roller coasters were destroyed in the seaside town by Sandy.

A surfer heads out into the water in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away on Nov. 16, in the Queens borough of New York City.

President Barack Obama and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, talk with a man inside the distribution tent as they tour a FEMA recovery center in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy on Staten Island in New York on Nov. 15, 2012. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, is at right. Obama got a look Thursday at the devastation that Sandy waged on New York City, flying over flood-ravaged Queens before landing in Staten Island to meet storm victims who lost homes and loved ones.

Rosemary McDermott and her husband Anthony Minor react as they open a safe containing a family genealogy they were able to salvage from the basement of her mother's home in the Breezy Point section of Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 15, 2012. A fire destroyed more than 100 homes in the oceanfront community during Superstorm Sandy. At left are Todd Griffin and Kevin Striegle, volunteers with Adventures in Missions, who helped find the safe beneath the debris.

People receive free clothing at the Ocean Bay Action Center on Nov. 15, 2012, in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens in New York City. More than two weeks after Superstorm Sandy, residents are still lining up for free clothing and food as emergency workers continue to restore power, water and heat to the battered community.

Patrick Wall, house manager at Coney Island USA, cleans a vintage player piano damaged in the flooding of the buildings that house the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and the Coney Island Museum on Nov. 15, 2012, in Brooklyn, New York City. Staff and volunteers are working to restore what can be saved following Superstorm Sandy.

Homeowner Rob Ostrander talks on the phone in front of his Hurricane Sandy damaged home in the Brooklyn borough region of Belle Harbor, N.Y., Nov. 14.

A worker looks up at a hole in the foundation caused by Hurricane Sandy to the home of Leslie Mahoney in the Brooklyn borough of Belle Harbor, N.Y., Nov. 14.

Lisa Baney walks back toward her family's home after taking a photo of a neighbor's destroyed home on Nov. 14, in Bay Head, N.J. Many residents of the hard hit seaside town remain without power.

A living room is filled with sand washed in by Superstorm Sandy on Nov. 14, in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.

A man looks up at a building along the destroyed section of boardwalk on Nov. 14, in Point Pleasant, N.J.

Workers pause to look at a home that has been pushed on top of a work truck by the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy in the Brooklyn borough of Belle Harbor N.Y., Nov. 14.

A candle is handed out to residents in need from a group called Dream Center in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in Queens, N.Y. on Nov.14. Two weeks after Superstorm Sandy slammed into parts of New York and New Jersey, thousands are still without power and heat.

An New York police officer jumps over a chasm in the boardwalk caused by the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy in Belle Harbor, N.Y., Nov. 14.

Louise McCarthy carts belongings from her flood-damaged home as she passes the charred ruins of other homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York, Nov. 14. A fire destroyed more than 100 homes in the oceanfront community during Superstorm Sandy.

Heavy equipment operator Bill Unger carries photos he salvaged from a mass dump of household possessions on Nov. 13, in the Midland Beach area of the Staten Island, N.Y. Unger has been helping to remove Hurricane Sandy debris for the city and collecting photos along the way. He takes them to his daughter, who is posting them on Facebook for neighborhood residents to find online and later collect.

A woman steps down off a damaged section of boardwalk in the Rockaway neighborhood of New York City, Nov. 13.

CVS workers stock the shelves of a temporary store being constructed in front of a damaged CVS location in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, Nov. 12. Most stores in the area have been damaged or destroyed.

A home that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy is seen in Union Beach, N.J., on Nov. 12.

An insurance claims adjuster climbs the entrance to a house in the Breezy Point neighborhood on Nov. 12, which was left devastated by Superstorm Sandy in New York City's Queens borough.

Chris Schmidt works on ripping out damaged wood in a friend's home, as a fire burns in the fireplace, on Nov. 12. People in the area continue to deal with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in the Oakwood Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y.

Members of the U.S. Army's 62nd Medical Brigade Preventive Medicine Detachment take water samples during early morning fog in Breezy Point, on Nov. 12. The neighborhood was left devastated by Superstorm Sandy in New York City's Queens borough.

People line up to receive donated items from Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens in the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, on Nov. 12.

A woman carries her dog while walking through charred homes in Breezy Point, on Nov. 12.

A resident looks through a destroyed house in Union Beach, N.J., on Nov. 12.

Streets damaged during Superstorm Sandy are seen in Ortley Beach, N.J., on Nov. 10.

People gather for free donated food beneath a spotlight in an area without power on Nov. 12, in the Rockaway neighborhood in New York City's Queens borough.

A young girl rejoices as she finds a doll, while she and her mother search through piles of clothes and other items donated for victims of Superstorm Sandy, on a sidewalk on the south side of Staten Island, on Nov. 12.

Seabee EOCN Courtney McCormack, left, grabbed a shovel and started digging out the sand that had washed up against the house as others in the group grabbed the waterlogged debris to begin a 100 yard walk out of the neighborhood to a large trash pile in Breezy Point, N.Y. on Nov. 12.

A cyclist passes piles of debris on Nov. 10, as clean-up continues where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Community pet rescuer Kim Ruiz stands among the cats, five of whom were rescued during Superstorm Sandy, and dogs she houses in her unheated apartment without electricity in the Far Rockaway neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York City on Nov. 9.

Mac Baker heats pots of water on the floor with small flames for a bit of warmth in her unheated apartment on Nov. 9, with her niece Nytaisha Baker in the Ocean Bay public housing projects in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Volunteer Christine Wakefield organizes donated goods Nov. 9, in a Metropolitan Transit Authority bus in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y.

David Sylvester searches through the remains of his house, which was flooded and then burned to the ground during Hurricane Sandy, for the corpses of his five cats in the Midland Beach neighborhood in Staten Island, N.Y., on Nov. 9.

Dean Rasinya takes a break from cleaning his damaged home on Nov. 8 in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Rasinya's house still stands, just at the edge of the fire's reach, near the area where there was a huge blaze that destroyed over 100 homes in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Rasinya has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years and intends to rebuild.

U.S. Marines from the 8th Engineer Support Battallon out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., attempt to start a generator which they will use to pump out floodwater from an overnight storm on Nov. 8 in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, N.Y. The Breezy Point neighborhood was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

David Sylvester, 50, stands in front of the remains of his house in the Midland Beach neighborhood on Staten Island in New York City on Nov. 8. Sylvester and his wife Joanne lost their five cats when their home caught fire after Hurricane Sandy flooded their neighborhood.

Theresa Goddard, her apartment still without electricity, is overwhelmed while discussing her living conditions on Nov. 8 in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. Even as a storm plunged temperatures below freezing, she and many other residents of the Red Hook public housing projects remain without heat and running water.

A damaged house sits in the middle of the street as the area continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point, Queens, N.Y. on Nov. 8.

Snow covers debris from the cleanup after Sandy in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 8. Residents across the Northeast woke up on Nov. 8 to more than 200,000 new power outages and record early snow from a nor'easter that struck just 10 days after Superstorm Sandy battered the region.

Ed Cardona shovels a few inches of snow from his driveway, just two hundred yards from the water, on Staten Island in New York City on Nov. 8. Cardona, who has lived here since 1989, had about three feet of water after Superstorm Sandy. "I still love the place, I'm not going anywhere. I picked up a new snowblower within the last seven months that went under water. I didn't get to use it at all, but that's OK. The family's safe, that's what's important," said Cardona.

A man walks past a fallen tree in Roslyn Heights, N.Y., Nov. 8.

People wait in line to buy gasoline during a snowstorm on Nov. 7 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The city is still experiencing long gas lines in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

Snow blows past debris and non-functioning streetlights on Nov. 7 in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, N.Y.

A man helps another person climb down from a destroyed section of boardwalk after they checked the storm's approach in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 7. The Rockaway Peninsula was especially hard hit by Superstorm Sandy and some evacuated ahead of the nor'easter.

Volunteers walk through falling snow while bringing food to residents of homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy on Nov. 7 in the Staten Island borough of New York City.

Snow falls as Eddie Saman clears out destroyed household belongings from his flood-damaged home on Nov. 7 in the Staten Island borough of New York City. He and fellow residents of the low-lying New Dorp area of Staten Island had been advised to evacuate ahead of the arrival of a storm that could potentially reflood areas devastated by Superstorm Sandy.

U.S. Marines work to clean up debris on Nov. 7 in the Staten Island borough of New York City.

U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Kenneth Henn delivers mail to a residence along Ocean Ave. at 15th Street in the evacuated section of Belmar, N.J., on Nov. 7. Machines pile sand along Ocean Ave. in the background.

Linemen install a transformer on Nov. 7 to help restore power in the Staten Island community of Oakwood Beach in New York City. The linemen were from Chain Electric, a contract utility crew that drove in from Mississippi to help out.

Dave Young, left, and Joe Callan, front right, help friend and fellow FDNY firefighter Kieran Burke, background, search for his wife's engagement ring, a family heirloom, in the ashes of Burke's home on Nov. 6 in Breezy Point, N.Y.

This sign and photo were nailed to one of several pilings that had held up a home in Head, N.J., until it was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

Heavy equipment operators work on a mountain of debris left by superstorm Sandy on Nov. 6 in Wall, N.J.

Casey Brouder clears out her parents' home on Nov. 6 in Breezy Point, N.Y.

Members of the National Guard walk past a house damaged by Sandy as it is painted with an American flag in the New Dorp section of Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 6. Voting in the U.S. presidential election is the latest challenge for the hundreds of thousands of people in the New York-New Jersey area still affected by superstorm Sandy.

Poll workers Eva Prenga, right, Roxanne Blancero, center, and Carole Sevchuk try to start an optical scanner voting machine in the cold and dark at a polling station in a tent in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, N.Y., on Nov. 6. The original polling site, a school, was damaged by superstorm Sandy.

Nikolas Policastro, 20, gives a kiss to one of his five puppies while Paige Shaw of the American Red Cross pets their mother "Bella" at a shelter in the Pinelands Regional Junior High School in Little Egg Harbor, N.J. on Nov. 6. Policastro, his four brothers and his parents sought refuge at the shelter after their home in Mystic Islands was swamped with over five feet of water from Sandy. The shelter was one of the few places that the family could house their extended family of five cats, five dogs and five thee-week-old puppies.

A woman and her son scramble over a tree toppled by superstorm Sandy as she accompanies him to Public School 195, in the background, in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, on Nov. 5 in New York. Nov. 5 was the first day of public school for New York City students following the storm.

MTA employees observe a pump removing seawater from the L train's tunnel, in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in New York City on Nov. 5. The MTA says the G and L trains are now the top priority to reopen. The signal system on the G still needs repairs, and the L tunnel under the East River is still being pumped out.

People wait at a crowded subway stop as New York City tries to recover from the after effects of Hurricane Sandy in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Nov. 5. Portions of the city's transit system are still not operating due to flooding and damage from last week's hurricane causing severe crowding in areas.

Lakota Serpica, 8, does her part to help organize donations for people affected by Sandy in Midland Beach in Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 5.

Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. arrive in Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 5.

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, garbage lies piled on the street in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y., on Nov. 4.

A worker scrapes up mud and tiles from flood-damaged Saint Rose High School in Belmar, N.J., on Nov. 4.

People salvage food from bags thrown out of a flooded store in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 4. Victims of Sandy on the East Coast struggled against the cold early on Sunday amid fuel shortages and power outages, even as officials fretted about getting voters displaced by the storm to polling stations for Tuesday's presidential election.

Soldiers from the National Guard help to unload supplies to set up a donation distribution center for victims of Sandy, at St. Camillus School in the Rockaways area of Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 4.

Rockaway residents stay warm by a fire during near-freezing temperatures on Nov. 4 in the Rockaway area of Queens, N.Y.

Members of the Coney Island Cathedral of Deliverance worship in a neighboring community center on Nov. 4 in New York City, after their church and beach community were heavily damaged by Sandy.

New York City Marathon runners help clear debris from homes in a damaged neighborhood in the Staten Island borough of New York on Nov. 4. More than 1,000 people, many of whom had originally planned to run the marathon, crowded onto two Staten Island Ferry boats and headed to the stricken borough with relief supplies ranging from food to plastic bags.

Vincent Gearity removes water-damaged insulation in a crawl space below a home as the area continues to clean up after Hurricane Sandy in Toms River, N.J., Nov. 4.

A man takes a photograph of a home destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., on Nov. 4.

An American Red Cross meal truck and volunteers hand out free meals in Bellmore, N.Y. on Nov. 3

A man walks near standing water and piles of sand swept onto a road from Superstorm Sandy at Rockaway Beach on Nov. 3, in the Queens borough of New York City.

An NYPD helicopter air drops supplies in the New Dorp Beach section of Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 3.

A man stands outside his house which was left flooded by hurricane Sandy in the Staten Island borough of New York, Nov. 3.

Volunteer Christina Wilson, left, helps clean up the kitchen of the Ventura family home, which was flooded during Superstorm Sandy, Nov. 3, in Staten Island, N.Y. A Superstorm Sandy relief fund is being created just for residents of the hard-hit New York City borough. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Borough President James Molinaro say the fund will help residents displaced from their homes.

Howard Goldsmith consoles his wife, Rosanna Troia, while helping clean out Troia's mother's home in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island on Nov. 3. As clean-up efforts from Superstorm Sandy continue, colder weather and another storm predicted for next week are beginning to make some worried.

Volunteers deliver blankets to residents affected by Hurricane Sandy in the Staten Island borough of New York, Nov. 3.

A member of the National Guard fills up a gas tank at the Armory on Nov. 3, in the Staten Island borough of New York City. New Jersey has begun rationing gas and the Department of Defense will be setting up mobile gas stations in New York City and Long Island.

A man looks over the remains of a home in the Staten Island borough of New York, Nov. 3.

People clean the boardwalk of sand washed in by Superstorm Sandy in low-lying historic Coney Island on Nov. 3, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Roxanne Boothe uses a flashlight as she walks through a hallway in Sam Burt Houses, where she is president of the tenants' association, on Nov. 3 in Coney Island, N.Y. The complex, which has been without power since Oct. 29, flooded during superstorm Sandy and a 90-year-old woman who had lived there for more than 40 years drowned on the first floor. "We have no heat, no water, no electricity, it’s dark in the whole building," said Boothe, who was frustrated that the Red Cross and FEMA assistance has not reached her neighborhood.

Collins Wimbish, left, and Margaret Girgaud cook food over a fire in a barrel in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., Nov. 3.

Jeff Kulikowski, left, sits on a bench on the boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge as the city tries to recover from the after effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., Nov. 3. Large areas of the city are still without power or functioning stores to buy food and water.