It is less than 90 miles from New Jersey’s largest city to Hamden, Conn. On a satellite image, it is a hair’s breadth. But that meager distance spelled all the difference between a picturesque winter snowfall — a nuisance, perhaps, to some — and a historic blow that brought paralysis, widespread power outages and death … More Dodging a monster
As New Jersey inches toward the massive task of rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie offered a message of hope and hardship today, saying that while most residents can expect a return to normalcy by Monday, it could be years before shattered coastal communities are fully restored. Speaking in Seaside Park, … More A long journey ahead
The front-end loaders were still building mountains of sand along New Jersey’s beaches — a new last line of defense — when the rain began to fall, first softly, then in stinging, sideways sheets. The wind rose quickly, tugging at slickers and hats. The ocean followed, smashing into jetties and sea walls, pushing in, spraying … More New storm dumps more misery on state
Some people will vote in National Guard trucks. Others will write on paper ballots in buildings powered by gas-fed generators. An unprecedented number will pick candidates by email or fax. As it slowly recovers from Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey today faces a major test: maintaining the integrity of a presidential election in a storm-ravaged state. … More A vote like no other
Hurricane Sandy brought unchecked misery to the living in New Jersey. Now, in its aftermath, Sandy is posing difficulties for the dead. … More Funeral industry struggles to cope in dire conditions
Gas lines stretched more than a mile in Somerville. Fights broke out at service stations in Elizabeth. Black marketeers and opportunists began to circle, reselling fuel at steep markups. Hurricane Sandy, which brought unprecedented destruction to New Jersey, has now brought something else: the most dire gasoline crisis since the 1970s. … More In Sandy’s wake, a new crisis: No gas
On a map, New Jersey’s shore communities resemble orderly grids. Clean lines delineate beach from boardwalk, block from block. Hurricane Sandy has vastly altered that topography. Seen from the air for the first time since the storm sundered the coastline, many communities are now indistinguishable, a blur of sand and debris. … More A familiar landscape butchered by Sandy
Lyman Street doesn’t exist anymore. Hurricane Sandy wiped it off the map. Where the Mantoloking street once stood, a river rushes from ocean to bay. Few houses escaped without catastrophic damage. One simply disappeared, forced off its foundation by the unimaginable power of the sea and deposited in the bay a quarter mile away. … More A surreal scene of damage hits barrier islands
Calamitous. Incalculable. Unthinkable. New Jersey officials and residents have run out of words to describe the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy, a behemoth of a storm that more than lived up to its hype. Up and down the coast, the ocean roared ashore, dislodging homes from their foundations, ripping away piers and swallowing entire neighborhoods. … More HISTORIC DEVASTATION
It has become the flood that won’t go away. Four days after Hurricane Irene made landfall in New Jersey, thrashing some areas with nearly a foot of rain, the state remains a patchwork of engulfed neighborhoods, its muddy rivers pushing into new territory, fouling all in their path. As one community begins to dry out, … More Hurricane Irene’s wrath
Mark Mueller Journalism 