Sandy Anniversary: Long Island's Comeback of the Year

Today's forecast calls for partly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 50s. If you stand on our beloved Jones Beach and gaze at the sea, the ocean will be relatively calm, with surf expected below two feet.

And for that, we should be grateful.

A year ago Farmingdale and the rest of Long Island was staring into the spiraling face of an ocean-borne monster. Hurricane Sandy was about to make land fall and wreak havoc on our homes and lives.

The storm surge rolled over Jones Beach and the North Shore to five-feet above flood stage. The South Shore below Merrick Road became a shallow lake, and Bayville was largely cut off from the world.

First responders, firefighters, police, civilians, were risking their lives to rescue those who couldn't make their way out of the looming devastation.

By then, the power went out all over. More than 100,000 LIPA customers, including significant portions of Farmingdale, were plunged into the 19th Century. You could argue Sandy was Biblical in it's proportions; darkness covered the land.

LIPA was, at first, overwhelmed, then publicly disgraced by its failure to respond promptly. Everyone from the governor of New York to the residents posting on Patch bitterly called them out for their failures.

And if there is one collective memory of Sandy, the Category 2 hurricane that came ashore a year ago today, it should not be of what we lost, but, instead, how Long Islanders came back.

By the time morning came, Farmingdale firefighters were clearing paths through the community. They worked without sleep for days, to the point of exhaustion, but didn't quit. The Farmingdale Village Fire Department converted its headquarters into a bunk room, allowing many out-of-town power line workers a chance to rest. 

In a matter of days, some downtown businesses found a way to open. There was food, and people sent the good news out from their iPhones. The gas lines followed, but neighbors reported which stations were open through text messages and calls.

Republic Airport became a hub of the local recovery operations. National Guardsmen from all over were deployed there and sent to assist others.

Farmingdale people checked on their neighbors, the elderly, the infirm. Churches gave shelter to those in need. People donated clothing, blankets, socks and shoes. Neighbors helped neighbors. Kids pitched in.

The fierce winds were able to knock down the Daler's scoreboard at their football field, batter businesses which faced the open field behind the middle school. But Farmingdale residents were still standing, unbowed.

It went on that way, here and all over Long Island, slowly, but surely, until all the lights were back on and the roads and railroad were open.

The pictures contained here are but a few examples of the resilience of our community (Please click through the images to see them). The before-and-after shots show how Farmingdale is still standing.

State and federal officials say the region is better prepared to address the devastation left in the wake of some future Atlantic monster.

But we don't really need them to tell us that. We know; we lived through it. We're still standing.

Today it will be partly sunny, the surf and wind will be calm.

We can be grateful.

See our breaking story from that morning here.

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