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 a meeting on March 11 with U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, and Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, of New Jersey, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate announced that the agency had agreed to reopen and review every flood insurance claim — approximately 144,000 — filed in New York and New Jersey by victims of Hurricane Sandy, and not limit corrective action to just the 2,200 claims that are now in litigation. more

When it’s time for 19-year-old Rebecca to go to sleep, she does so on a living room couch in her Baldwin Harbor home. Her 21-year-old brother and 16-year-old sister are a few feet away in the dining room, where they sleep on mattresses. Rebecca’s parents, who are both disabled, spend most of their time upstairs as she runs the household. more

We had never seen a tempest the likes of Hurricane Sandy before, one so mammoth, so fierce, that it wiped out whole shoreline communities while leaving much of the rest of the Northeast in tatters, … more

In June, a proposal to strengthen Long Island’s waterways, starting with Mill River in Rockville Centre, was awarded millions of dollars in federal funding. The project, called Living with the … more

Jones Beach, a spit of sand with 6.5 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches, had no barrier island to protect it against Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012. It was the barrier island, and so it took the … more

When Superstorm Sandy hit on Oct. 29, 2012, it devastated the South Shore. No storm in living memory had caused so much destruction. Though reconstruction is well under way, there are many who … more

It’s been two years since the storm hit. Two years since water and sewage flowed into hundreds of Baldwin homes. Two years since long lines began forming at local gas stations, and the power … more

Nearly two years after Hurricane Sandy, the Jones Beach State Park staff — with the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency — has not only repaired, but revived the world-famous attraction. more

Promising to save taxpayers $233 million over the next 20 years, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano announced a partnership with United Water on Monday to manage and operate the county’s three … more