The community of Broad Channel, NY had been through extreme weather events when Hurricane Sandy ripped through the New York area on October 29, 2012, so many residents rode out the storm at home. When the flood waters rose upwards of six feet inside their houses, people took shelter on countertops and in attics, for the first time shocked and frightened by the intensity of the deluge. Five weeks later, as winter approached, many residents of Broad Channel were still clearing wet, rotted debris from their homes, some with no hope of moving back in before spring. Others were living inside their gutted residences, relying on food banks and the Red Cross for meals and waiting on FEMA and insurance companies to respond with resources to help with reconstruction – their futures still uncertain.
