"New Jersey Transit's struggle to recover from Superstorm Sandy is being compounded by a pre-storm decision to park much of its equipment in two rail yards that forecasters predicted would flood, a move that resulted in damage to one-third of its locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars."

"As Northeast states take measure of the destruction brought by Hurricane Sandy, there's a new concern. New York and New Jersey have dozens of Superfund sites close to the shore. Some of these toxic zones were flooded by Sandy's storm surge. There are worries in Newark that toxic chemicals may have been swept into some people's home."

"The cost of building sea barriers that would protect New York City and parts of New Jersey from storm surges is likely to run as high as $23 billion, according to the Dutch scientist commissioned by New York City to study how it might respond to the extreme weather events and rising sea levels brought about by climate change."

"Federal officials Wednesday warned people not to come in contact with the water or eat any fish or shellfish from Newark Bay and the lower Passaic and Hackensack rivers because contamination levels remain dangerously high after Hurricane Sandy crippled a key sewage treatment plant."

"About 166,000 homes and businesses in the eastern United States were still without power on Sunday, after being battered first by Hurricane Sandy in late October and then by last week's Nor'easter storm, company and government data showed."

"ABOUT 100,000 homes and businesses in New York City and Long Island were so damaged by hurricane Sandy that restoring power to some of them may take months, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has said."

"A northeaster threatened to unravel progress made since Hurricane Sandy ravaged the New York area, delivering a second angry serving of howling wind and high water on Wednesday in places where misery and frustration had yet to recede."

Floods, sewage overflows, and power outages have made public drinking water supplies temporarily unsafe in many utility service areas across the states hit by superstorm Sandy. The best course of action for water users in those areas is to pay attention to messages from local utilities and state authorities.

"Residents of Moonachie and Little Ferry, N.J., are beginning to clear the damage after their communities were inundated by floodwaters. The flooding occurred when a system of levees and berms was unable to control the storm surge pushed ashore by Superstorm Sandy."

"As Hurricane Sandy pushed floodwater through New York's streets and into its subways, many wondered how the city's infamous rat population would fare -- sink or swim?"