A few miles inland, where the winds were moderate and the flood waters did not penetrate, life is back to normal for most people. But on the shores, the trouble is just beginning.
There are three locations along the U.S. coast that should immediately begin planning to install hurricane storm surge barriers.
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Some of the homes in New York City that were damaged by Sandy are beyond repair, authorities have concluded.
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The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) expects flood claims to exceed its statutory reserves.
The disaster has also spurred critics to question whether it's wise to build and rebuild on the fragile, vulnerable ocean shore.
Thousands of homes on the South Shore are still in the dark because they can't be connected to the grid until they've passed a wiring safety inspection — or because they've already had the inspection, and failed.
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Isaac's storm surge and wave action uncovered old deposits of spilled oil and tar from 2010's devastating BP oil release.
Some neighborhoods where FEMA has been hard to spot are feeling the presence of another force: the Occupy Wall Street movement, reborn as Occupy Sandy.
According to a CBS News report, about 76,000 LIPA customers still did not have service on Monday.
With the Superstorm long gone and its Nor'easter aftershock fading also, New Jersey contractors are coming to grips with a long, arduous task of repair and reconstruction.
While Sandy's strongest winds and worst flooding occurred on the ocean shores of New Jersey, Connecticut shoreline communities on the Long Island Sound also got a beating.
The southern shore of New Jersey took the direct impact of Superstorm Sandy's onslaught. Barrier island communities on the Jersey Shore were decimated.
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Even for homeowners who do carry flood insurance, policy limits are tight.
The region is just beginning to tally last week's damage from the killer "super storm" Sandy, but Northeast residents are now bracing for a second, though smaller onslaught from a classic Nor'easter.
Construction of a 5 mile barrier from Rockaway to Sandy Hook NJ would cost at least $10 billion.