Sandy’s wrath was felt from Maine to Florida, but the storm hit New Jersey the hardest , leaving 2 million of the state’s residents without power and more than 345,000 homes damaged or destroyed. The monster storm made landfall near Brigantine, New Jersey, with sustained 70-knot winds, torrential rain and a record-breaking storm surge exacerbated by high tides and a full moon that flooded towns along the Jersey Shore. The tidal surge washed away piers and boardwalks, even leaving the Star Jet roller coaster in Seaside Heights submerged in the ocean.

Superstorm Sandy also battered New York City , resulting in 44 deaths and an estimated $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity. The storm surge breached seawalls in lower Manhattan, flooding subway stations, tunnels and low-lying streets and sparking a fire in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens that destroyed 130 homes .…