This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Damage in the United States: $62 billion (second to Hurricane Katrina in cost)


U.S. storm-related deaths: 131 Homes severely damaged: 375,000


Number of homes that lost power: 8.1 million in 17 states


Width of tropical wind force: 820 miles


A surfer walks past the damaged boardwalk in Long Beach, N.Y. , three weeks after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the New York area. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were the hardest-hit states.


Below, homes in Ortley Beach, N.J., remained off limits in late November, almost a month


after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on the Northeast. New Jersey Gov. Christie estimated that the storm would cost the state $29.4 billion in damage and economic losses.


by JOANNE VASSALLO JAMROSZ


enior competitor Samantha Cesario is proud of the gold medal she won at the Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Cham- pionships in Hyannis, Mass. She is even


more proud to have made it through the final weeks of training for that competition as New York City and surrounding areas faced the wrath of Superstorm Sandy.


Cesario and her family live in Oceanside on


Long Island. When they first learned that Hurri- cane Sandy was headed their way, they didn’t give the storm a second thought. After all, hurricanes aren’t a regular occurrence in New York. “When the storm hit on Monday, Oct. 29,


we knew it wasn’t good,” Cesario said. “We woke up to loud gusts of wind outside and flickering lights in our home. By Monday night, we lost power along with most of Long Island and parts of New York City as well as many surrounding states.”


Tankfully, the only thing the family lost was electricity. However, sectionals were looming


10 JANUARY 2013


in two weeks, and Cesario was pressed for prac- tice ice.


“Tere wasn’t a single ice rink open on Long


Island and I was leaving for sectionals in a little over a week,” Cesario said. “Luckily my home rink, Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, made it through the storm and had power. I had to wait a few days until the bridges reopened and I could make it to the rink, but I was able to get to training just a few days later.”


Te rink was far from her home, creating a


new obstacle: the gasoline shortage. “Seventy percent of all gas stations on Long


Island were out of power and people were pan- icking,” she said. “We had to wait one to three hours in line to get gas each day, but we man- aged.”


Cesario’s father was also looking forward to


traveling to Hyannis to watch his daughter com- pete, but as a National Grid worker he had to stay in Oceanside where his services were needed. For Annie Serafini, mother of Eastern Sec-


tional junior bronze medalist Olivia Serafini, Sandy meant scrambling to find someone to sharpen her daughter’s skates for the big compe- tition. Serafini normally uses the sharpening ser-


vice at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J., but the rink was closed due to the storm. After speak- ing to her usual skate sharpener, Serafini learned there was someone else who could sharpen skates for competition, but he was in Lake Placid, N.Y. For such a big competition, Serafini found it was a small sacrifice to make considering the storm’s devastation. She drove from the family’s home in Niskayuna to Lake Placid to get the job done.


“I drove down to New Jersey to meet with


Olivia’s coach, Steven Rice, who was coaching his sectional competitors in Montclair on the Friday and Saturday before sectionals, 2½ hours from my home,” Serafini said. “Ten I drove another 2½ hours to Lake Placid and back on Sunday to get the skates sharpened.”


PHOTO BY BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES


PHOTO BY MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68