Here’s How Destructive Hurricane Sandy Was 5 Years Ago

Thousands of New Jersey residents were asked to evacuate their homes, and casinos were closed in Atlantic City. In this now iconic scene, a roller coaster in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, has gone underwater.

By October 28, President Obama had officially declared a state of emergency for New Jersey. Here's the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, which was also severely damaged.

After the storm, the ground was completely ripped up in Ortley Beach, New Jersey.

Here, you'll see more damage in Ortley Beach.

Over in the New Jersey town of Mantoloking, a woman works to remove sand from her parents' house.

A water slide hangs over the end of an amusement park's pier in Seaside Park, New Jersey.

Boats that have washed ashore are seen piled next to a house near Monmouth Beach, New Jersey.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, people try to open their garage despite the floodwaters.

President Obama hugs the owner of the North Point Marina as he tours damaged areas in Brigantine, New Jersey.

An inlet that was created by the storm connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Jones Tide Pond, just north of where Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Houses are surrounded by sand near Ortley Beach, New Jersey, almost a month after the area was hit by Hurricane Sandy.

The storm received the nickname "Frankenstorm," and many media outlets referred to it as "Superstorm Sandy." Staten Island, pictured here, also suffered horrible damage — some of the worst anywhere.

On the south side of Staten Island, a young boy and his mother search through piles of clothes donated to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

A house in Staten Island was pushed into marshland by the storm.

On the south coast of Long Island, some playgrounds were drowned underwater. This one was in Bellport, New York.

Also in Bellport, forces from the hurricane push water into the window of a building.

A man pauses to catch his breath as he walks up a darkened stairwell to his 15th floor apartment in Queens. His building lost power as a result of the storm.

A woman helps sort through the remains of her father's house, which burned to the ground during Hurricane Sandy, in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens.

An insurance claims adjuster scales the entrance to a house in Breezy Point.

US Army soldiers clear debris from Breezy Point.

An aerial view of the burnt houses, surrounded by houses that survived, in Breezy Point.

Here's a closer view of the burnt houses.

A third aerial view of the destruction in Breezy Point.

An automobile is seen parked among homes, all damaged by a fire and the effects of Sandy, in the Belle Harbor section of Queens.

Local contractors work to clean sand out of a pool in the Rockaways.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on a flooded street in the Rockaways section of Queens.

Residents look over the remains of burned homes in the Rockaways.

Over in Belle Harbor, Brooklyn, an NYPD officer jumps over a split in the boardwalk.

A gas station submerged in floodwaters near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Down in Lower Manhattan, residents stand over vehicles that have been submerged in a parking structure.

Sandy's strength and angle of approach combined to produce a record storm surge of water into New York City, New Jersey, and other parts of the Northeast. Progress has been made, but many will never fully recover all that was lost or damaged.