Last Friday, eleven days after Hurricane Sandy tore through Long Beach, Stan Samuels was five days into pumping out his flooded basement and garage.
First, he had emptied those areas of their belongings, everything from chairs to hoses to recycle bins. They were part of a mound, covered in snow from a nor’easter storm that rolled through town two days prior, outside his home on the 500 block of East Pine Street, where the pump released the floodwater. A rented dumpster parked on the other side of his driveway was filled with flood-and snow-soaked debris. His two vehicles, a Cadillac and Altima, were destroyed in the storm.
At the time, Samuels’ home and neighborhood was still without power, and he continued to stay upstairs in his two-story home where he’s lived for the last 41 years.
“I really don’t want to leave,” Samuels confessed. “I’m afraid of a lot of things, like looting.”
Meanwhile, people have come to his house to help him out. The day after last Wednesday’s snowfall some kids showed up at his door and shoveled his porch and sidewalk.
Amid talking about his woes in the wake of Sandy, Samuels managed to crack a joke and smile. But only for a moment. His eyes returned to half his home out on the street.
“I’m laughing now,” he said, “but its killing me inside.”
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