Calm After the Storm Lets Eastern Cities Assess Damage

In the calm Sunday that followed a lethal storm that tore apart seaside homes, put city streets under water and buried wide regions of the Northeast in snow, those hardest hit pondered what to do next.

“It’s wide devastation the entire length of New Jersey,” said Stephen Kempf Jr., the New York City-based regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “It’s going to take a while to clean up.”

At least 17 deaths were blamed on the storm that hit New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and parts of other Eastern states Thursday and lasted well into Friday.

Winds, rain and snow acted up again Saturday in spots, and thousands of people remained without power Sunday. Some who fled to shelters stayed there.

“I’ve lost everything and I’ve got two children,” Sherlyn Gandy told New Jersey Gov. James J. Florio at a school-turned-shelter in Atlantic City, N.J. “I’m trying to find somewhere to live.”

Her husband, Claude, asked where the family would go if the school reopened today.

“We can assure you you are not going to be put out on the street,” Mayor James Whelan said. He added that shelters will be available.

The storm dumped up to 4 feet of snow on western and central Massachusetts and pounded coastal areas with high wind and rain Friday and Saturday.

Sea walls in coastal cities crumbled and winds, heavy snow and fallen trees downed power lines everywhere. Crews came from as far away as Canada to help restore power. About 1,000 National Guardsmen also assisted in the cleanup.

It was too soon for overall preliminary damage estimates, but damage to boardwalks and beaches in Atlantic City alone were estimated at $10.7 million or more. The figure doesn’t include damage to homes and businesses.

The ocean broke through Ballston Beach in Truro, Mass., virtually isolating Provincetown from the rest of Cape Cod. Four homes on Nantucket and a fifth on Plymouth’s White Horse Beach were swept into the sea. Some residents fearful of looters stayed inside flooded homes.

Insurance agents and government officials fanned out to begin assessing damage.

Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld said the damage likely will cost less than a major storm that hit on Halloween last year. About $100 million in insurance claims and repair costs were paid from that storm.