Flashlight hands, staircase feet

USA. Rockaway, Queens. New York City. 2012. Mansura Khanam

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, buildings throughout the Rockaways remained without electricity for several weeks.  In the darkness throughout many housing complexes, stairways became the only way of reaching the various floors.  Denzel (9) and Michael (7) Alexander, who live in an apartment on the 7th floor of Building 4 in Far Rockaway, Queens with their parents and grandparents, stuck close together and navigated long flights of stairs with their flashlights.  I met the boys in the courtyard of Building 4 as they were heading back from the store, instinctively carrying their flashlights as if they’d always done it. Their mother Peggy Ann Alexander, suffers from leg pains and found it  difficult to climb the seven flights of stairs to their apartment.

,

31 Years

USA. Brooklyn, NY. Sea Gate. 2012. Mansura Khanam

The Sea Gate community in Coney Island, Brooklyn lay ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012.  Homes along the ocean’s edge were hardest hit, with surge waters bowling over concrete foundations, obliterating walls, and exposing belongings to wind, water, sand and light.

Maria and Angelo D’Angelis and their children Pasquale, Lidia and Louisa of Sea Gate, Brooklyn, lost their home of 31 years.  When I met them, this Italian-American family with deep roots in Sea Gate were stunned at the extent of the damage.  Maria marveled that after she had evacuated, she remembered forgetting to bring in the potted plant from the veranda.  She expected losing the plant would be the worst of it; never imagining her house would be ripped apart or the plant washing up into her kitchen.  The family is currently staying with Maria’s sister and extended family.

Exposed

USA. Brooklyn, NY. Sea Gate. 2012. Mansura Khanam

The Sea Gate community in Coney Island, Brooklyn lay ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012.  Homes along the ocean’s edge were hardest hit, with surge waters bowling over concrete foundations, obliterating walls, and exposing belongings to wind, water, sand and light. Images pictured in this gallery include the home of Teri Liberi. The contents of her closet hung eerily, beautifully as if in a doll house in what remains of Ms. Liberi’s home in the aftermath of the hurricane. For me, this home crystalized the basic human need to seek shelter and how much we suffer when overexposed to the elements.

Of Water, Wind, and Fire

USA. Queens, NY. Breezy Point. 2012. Mansura Khanam

With hurricane force winds and fire trucks crippled by flood waters, fires burned well through the night and produced flames reaching 50 feet, damaging or destroying over 130 homes in Breezy Point, Queens in October 2012. Images in this gallery include that of Delores and William Lehner–long-time residents of Breezy Point–whose home was flooded by surge waters.  When I met them, the Lehners were taking refuge in the Roxbury Firehouse, which had become an impromptu disaster relief center. Mr. Lehner suffers from dementia, compounding the Lehner’s difficulties during the hurricane.  The Roxbury volunteer firefighters were one of the first on the scene of the Breezy Point fires as their small truck was able to make it through the flood waters.  The final image is of a home that was lifted clear off its foundation on the night of the hurricane and pushed to the middle of the road by the force of the surge.