Tri-State Area marks 10 years since Superstorm Sandy: "Sandy was not just a storm, it was a wake-up call"
NEW YORK - Saturday marks 10 years since Superstorm Sandy roared ashore and devastated the Tri-State Area.
In New York City alone, 44 people died and $19 billion in damage was done.
People across the region spent Saturday reflecting on lessons learned.
Sons and daughters, brothers and mothers -- the names of 24 Staten Islanders killed by the storm were displayed and read Saturday morning at Miller Field. That field was flooded by the storm 10 years ago.
"It didn't come like a tidal wave. It was like filling up a bathtub," said Staten Island resident George Emanuel Runer.
Sandy not only flooded his house, but his 77-year-old dad's house, too.
"He can't swim, so he stood in the doorway, as he's told us, of the house with his hands holding himself up," Runer told CBS2's Tim McNicholas.
He says after three days, the police department was able to rescue him in a rowboat, but dozens of people could not be rescued.
Watch Tim McNicholas' report
The storm killed 48 people in New York state, 12 in New Jersey and five in Connecticut.
"For those of us, I worked in South Beach, to see the destruction and devastation was just heartbreaking. And for those 24 names that we just read, there were probably another 2,400 or so who came close to losing their life," Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said.
For a decade now, survivors have learned to grapple with the challenges the storm brought.
"Sandy was not just a storm, it was a wake-up call," Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday.
"You either laugh or you cry about it. You got to pick your battles," Runer said.
Adams says the storm highlights a need to fight climate change and protect the coast.
"Often we talk about dismantling the wall, but this time around, we wanna build the wall. We need the Army Corps of Engineers to finally build the Staten Island sea wall," he said.
Watch Christina Fan's report
At a vigil on Long Island, former assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg praised people for how they responded to the storm.
"People should be talking about the heroes and wonderful things that they did and got from here, how we all worked together. And the people who are the heroes are the people that live here and work here," he said.
Long Beach resident Kathleen Hogan, like so many others, did not evacuate when the storm hit.
"I can remember the water being like 6 feet coming down the block, basically over the roofs of the cars," she said.
"I know many of us never thought that the 28th of 2012, October, would be the last night that we'd spend in our home and that we would then become homeless, but I can say 10 years later, Long Beach is in a better place," Long Beach City Council President Karen McInnis said.
"It's always important to remember what we've been through. I think it brings the community together. Long Beach now is stronger than ever," Long Beach resident Carl Caltabiano said.
As CBS2's Hannah Kliger reports, a sense of pride pervades the Long Beach community as residents remember the way people came together to help one another.
"There was people cooking, barbequing outside. The Knights of Columbus around the corner from me were serving meals. They had foodstuffs, they had clothing, and they were helping the residents that lost everything," Caltabiano said.
"I still tear up to this day. I can still envision somebody that I knew very well, and she came over and I gave her some water and she said to me, 'I just beat cancer, now I lost my house,'" Weisenberg said.
Many say they feel confident that the city is in better shape than it was.
A decade later, it's no longer an open wound, but there will always be a scar.
