A month after Sandy, the cold of winter was setting in along the Rockaways and many people still didn't have heat. The streets were piled with storm debris. And the only shops open along Beach 116th Street were bodegas, hardware stores, and one lone hair salon called Beauty and Spa.
That was where WNYC first met hairdresser Richard Blanck. Like his wife, Blanck was born and raised in the area. And like many of his neighbors, the 72-year-old refused to evacuate during Sandy.
"It was mighty scary. It sounded like a jet plane was landing on your street," Blanck said. "I stayed on the porch. I was up to my ankles in water and the high voltage things on the poles started to spark. That's when I jumped back in the house."
Blanck's cellar filled up with eight feet of water. Four feet filled the garage. Lost were a basement of memories: family heirlooms, Christmas ornaments, a wedding dress. It would be two months before his heat and electricity were restored and another two years for him to repair the damage.
After that, it was all too easy to imagine another storm hitting.
"I would not live near water, I'm too old to start to rebuild," he remarked in a telephone interview from his new home in Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he and his wife live now. They are more than a hundred miles from the ocean. Watching news about this fall's hurricanes brings him back to Sandy.
"My heart goes out to these people, especially the poor, the ones on the islands," he said. "There's no words to express the sadness you feel for them."
Blanck says he's happier now. He prefers the quieter, softer way of life outside of New York City. And he's glad to be nowhere near the ocean.