Hurricane Sandy, A Photo Essay - from Seaford, NY.

1. Relocated

A look at what my wife Sally and I lived in - and where it ended up - after Hurricane Sandy struck Long Island on October 29th, 2012.

2. High and Dry

Our neighbor's house barge is on the left, and our house barge is on the right, bow to bow, where previously - prior to Hurricane Sandy's arrival in Seaford - we resided side by side. 

3. Paper Moon

The large wooden boat our former neighbor Bob lived on prior to, as well as after, Hurricane Sandy disrupted all our lives. She also had a huge effect on our way of life.

4. Broadsided

The house barge owned by our former neighbor Christine, whose floating home was severely damaged by Bob’s boat and subsequently sunk. While Bob's boat was able to be moved back on to land, Christine's never made it out of the bay. It was eventually removed and carted away.

5. Listing to Port

Our newest neighbor Erica’s home was berthed at the western end of the marina we lived in. She had it relocated from Merrick to Seaford, before the wrath of Sandy changed many of our lives forever.

6. Last in Line

Looking to the east, four days after Hurricane Sandy disrupted our lives, at the few housebarges, houseboats, and power boats that remained in place - more or less. Only two housebarges suffered virtually no damage and remained in their berths. Ten other floating dwellings did not fare as well.

7. House Guest

"Junique" - which was purchased and renamed by our friend June - ended up on a neighbor's front yard, forced ashore by Sandy, about one hundred yards from where she was formerly berthed.

8. New Neighbors

Our friend Joe’s houseboat and the housebarge “Junique” became new, but unwanted, neighbors to the homeowners along Marinor Street in Seaford, NY. Both were, eventually, repaired and successfully relocated - but not until our legal efforts to resume our way of life were exhausted.

9. Not-So-Mobile Home

A self-built floating home, constructed by our neighbor Kevin. His domicile ended up further away than any other water-borne residence from our marina. He chose to have his destroyed - a choice a few of us had to succumb to, eventually...

10. Moving - Day One

After 23 days of no progress, the first of our homes - Bob's big, old, wooden cabin cruiser - was raised from where it was left by Sandy. The marina itself had been cleaned up, somewhat; but there was still damage evident, and lots of flotsam and jetsam. There was also still more drama to be had.

11. Raising Paper Moon

While it was hanging from two cranes, there was still a battle going on, preventing her from making land. Despite protests by the marina owners, two Nassau County cops allowed her to be placed on jacks. Bob's was the only vessel raised that day. It would be two more days until the other three were relocated.

12. Moving - Day Two

Two days after Bob's boat was relocated, it was time for the three remaining house barges to be returned to the marina. Two others were undamaged, two were damaged beyond repair, two small houseboats survived, one floating home was leveled on site by its builder and three other boats were also destroyed.

13. Heading Home

Our housebarge which, prior to Hurricane Sandy, never really had a name. After going through three-plus weeks of living in our high and dry home, which was partially in the street and partially in a marina across the street from where we used to be moored, we decided to officially start calling her "Hope."

14. Homeward Bound

Once our home was up in the air and on her way back into the marina we'd been living in, we learned that our former floating home weighed in at 70,000 pounds, which is 35 tons! We were pretty close to the maximum amount this very large Bay Crane could lift. Sadly, she never made it back to the sea.

15. Junique Ascending

A week or so after being stranded, June - the owner of "Junique" - was so distraught over the whole situation that she was ready to just abandon her housebarge where it lay. Fortunately, she and I had a good, long talk; and I was able to persuade her to ride out this storm of controversy, as well.

16. Reunited

“Junique” - the housebarge that traveled the furthest during Hurricane Sandy, finished her return trip to "our" marina on a large trailer. Once there she rejoined the two other homes - our newly-named barge “Hope” and Celia and Mal's “Halcyon” - that were relocated on that same long, emotional day.

17. Eve of Destruction

On December 10th, 2012, seven of us - June, Joe, Rick, Diane, Robert, Bob and myself - hired a law firm to try and retain our rights to exist, as we had been existing for years. Nearly seven months later, after much time, money and angst, only two homes – “Halcyon” and our “Hope” - remained in the marina. The destruction began early.

18. Halfway Gone

Watching our former next door neighbor's housebarge being dismembered was one of the saddest sights I'd ever seen. The only good that came from this was that I was able to have a good friend's company do the dirty work. While it didn't lessen their pain, at least it lowered their cost.

19. First Blood

While Celia and Mal's former home was being trashed, a different crew started in on our now-former home. The pain was palpable, as I'd invested much of my time, effort and money into renovating this nearly 30 year old floating home - one that had been damaged by, but survived, Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

20. Just a Blur

After watching as much as we could stand, Sally and I finally drove away, as neither of us could bear the pain of continuing to see “Hope” demolished. The only silver lining to this was that, on the following day, they punctured our 275 gallon oil tank, which led to fines and a long delay, thanks to the EPA.