Impact of the 2012 hurricane season

Dam Ny, front, and his wife Kheav Simo are staying at the Belle Chasse Auditorium while under a forced evacuation from Plaquermines Parish.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Residents of La Place, Louisiana have never seen water levels this high, even during Hurricane Katrina.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Gina Hunter talks on her phone in front of the Martinez family home in Plaquemines Parish on September 3, 2012 in Braithwaite, Louisiana.  (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

The Nguyen family is evacuated from their home in La Place, Louisiana. They wanted to stay, but ran out of food.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Members of the National Guard keep security at the New Orleans Superdome as Hurricane Isaac approaches within 20 miles.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Gas and food are in high demand as Hurricane Isaac continues to cause electricity outages in New Orleans.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Part of a home rests upside-down in Seaside Heights, N.J. on Oct. 31 after superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey. The rest of the home sat away from its original spot and in the middle of a street.   (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

The Casino Pier roller coaster in Seaside Heights, N.J. lies crumpled in the ocean after the pier was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.  (Michael Reynolds / EPA)

Homes wrecked by Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J.  (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Flood water passes debris from a destroyed home in Mantoloking, N.J.  (Wayne Parry / Associated Press)

A car from an amusement park on the Seaside Heights, N.J. boardwalk is partly buried in the sand at Mantoloking, N.J., about eight miles to the north from where it originated.  (Wayne Parry / Associated Press)

Sand from the beach reaches the windows of a home as a vehicle rests on its side in Seaside Heights, N.J.   (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

President Barack Obama, center, and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, left, watch as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, second from left, meets with local residents at Brigantine Beach Community Center in Brigantine, N.J.  (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

The entrance to the subway station at South Ferry remains flooded.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

An abandoned truck is almost entirely submerged by flood waters in the Battery Park Underpass in Lower Manhattan.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Water is pumped out of a subway station in Lower Manhattan near Battery Park.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

With the power out, Dong Wang lights candles to serve food at Carol’s Bun restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The Battery Park underpass is flooded. The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel also are flooded.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The flooded Breezy Point neighborhood in Queens.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Flooding in the the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A cat is safely evacuated from Breezy Point.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The storm’s aftermath in Queens.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Times Square is deserted on the morning after the storm.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Residents in Lower Manhattan begin the cleanup.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Benny Jakupoj supervises the cleanup of his Lower Manhattan restaurant.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

With no power, Scott Warren carries his daughter up seven flights of stairs to their apartment.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Rising water, caused by Hurricane Sandy, rushes into a subterranean parking garage in the financial district of New York City.  (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

The front of an apartment building on 8th Ave. in Manhattan collapsed due to high winds from Hurricane Sandy.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

New York City is taking a beating from Hurricane Sandy. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for only the second time in history because of weather.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A New York police officer guards a closed subway station in Lower Manhattan.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

People are kept off the waterfront in Lower Manhattan.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

George Hendricks, who has lived in Manhattan for 50 years, watches the storm surge in Battery Park City.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Hurricane Sandy causes flooding in West Babylon, N.Y., on the south shore of Long Island.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A closed subway station in Lower Manhattan.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

City workers put more sandbags in place in Lower Manhattan.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ocean Avenue in Cape May, N.J.   (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Toppled scaffolding in Lower Manhattan.  (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

A closed transit terminal in Philadelphia.  (William Thomas Cain / Getty Images)

North Michigan Avenue in Atlantic City, N.J.   (Michael Ein / Associated Press)

The rising Hudson River in Edgewater, N.J.  (Craig Ruttle / Associated Press)

Rough surf off the Atlantic Ocean breaks over the dunes Monday morning in Cape May, N.J., as high tide and Hurricane Sandy begin to arrive.  (Mel Evans / Associated Press)

Richard Thomas walks through the flood waters in front of his home after assisting neighbors as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast in Fenwick Island, Del.   (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Waters from Hurricane Sandy start to flood Beach Avenue in Cape May, N.J.   (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Raymond Souza carries away a ladder after boarding up Tidal Rave’s 5 & 10 gift shop on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach ahead of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall.  (Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images)

People walk across Beach Avenue as flood waters from Hurricane Sandy rush in Cape May, N.J.  (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

A worker walks past sea foam partially covering the deck of a structure ahead of Hurricane Sandy in Atlantic City, N.J.   (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Water floods a street ahead of Hurricane Sandy in Atlantic City, N.J.  (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

A view of sign indicating the closure of Brooklyn Bridge Park with the Manhattan Bridge seen in the background as the beginning effects of Hurricane Sandy are felt in in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.  (Justin Lane / EPA)

Sandbags block the entry to the closed Staten Island Ferry in New York. All public transportation has been shut down as Hurricane Sandy approaches the East Coast.  (Craig Ruttle / Associated Press)

A lone man walks on the Chatham Coast Guard Beach several hours before the expected landfall of Hurricane Sandy in Chatham, Mass.  (Matt Campbell / EPA)

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Hurricane Sandy approaches, residents of downtown Manhattan evacuate by the subway system, which is now shut down.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. -- Employees of Luna Park amusement park on Coney Island work to secure the moving parts of the rides as Hurricane Sandy approaches. Coney Island is under mandatory evacuation orders in anticipation of the strong winds and water surge.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

NEW YORK -- Hurricane force winds could cause trouble for the cranes at the site of the former World Trade Center. The streets of downtown Manhattan are almost empty as Hurricane Sandy approaches. Subways and trains have been halted and parts of Manhattan are under a mandatory evacuation order.

NEW YORK -- Many residents of lower Manhattan have been told to evacuate and the subways have been closed.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

NEW YORK -- Tran Nguyen, right, 25, rides one of the last trains from Wall Street where she lives and works to another part of the city. Her neighborhood is under a mandatory evacuation order.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. -- Residents of Coney Island prepare for what’s to come. Dustin Shasho, 25, puts sandbags in front of the garage entrance of his home where he lives with his mother, Sherry Shasho. The family has lived on Coney Island for more than 30 years in the Sea Gate neighborhoos.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

In preparation for Hurricane Sandy, construction workers cover air vents that could cause the New York subway system to flood. The MTA has announced that at 7 p.m. all subway, bus and commuter rail service will be shut down in response to the storm.   (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

A man surfs in Long Beach, N.Y., as Hurricane Sandy approaches. The storm has already claimed more than 50 lives in the Caribbean.  (Mike Stobe / Getty Images)

Earthmovers build protective berms on Compo Beach as the first signs of Hurricane Sandy approach in Westport, Conn.   (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)