50 dramatic images of destruction caused by superstorm and hurricane Sandy

 A rollercoaster is battered by waves near a storm-destroyed pier off the New Jersey coast in this aerial photograph provided by the US Air Force

 Floodwaters from Superstorm Sandy surround homes in South Bethany, Delaware

 This aerial photo shows burnt-out homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York

People look at one of many homes badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy is pictured in the Cosey Beach neighbourhood of East Haven, Connecticut

 The John B. Caddell, a 168-foot water tanker, lies grounded on the shore in the Stapleton neighbourhood of New York's Staten Island

 A road leading into Mirlo Beach in Rodanthe, North Carolina, is buckled from pounding surf whipped up by Sandy

 Brian Hajeski reacts as he looks at debris of a home that washed up on to a bridge in Mantoloking, New Jersey

 A flooded section of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, New Jersey

 A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded in Hoboken, NJ

 A runway at the Teterboro Airport in New York is flooded in the wake of Superstorm Sandy

 People stand among the burnt-out remains of homes in Breezy Point, Queens, New York

 This aerial view, taken during a search and rescue mission by 1-150 Assault Helicopter Battalion, shows the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy to the New Jersey coast

 Zoe Jurusik paddle-boards down a flooded city street in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Bethany Beach, Delaware

 This image from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite shows the massive Superstorm Sandy bearing down on the east coast of the US

 A crane attached to One57, a luxury apartment tower under construction in midtown Manhattan, hangs down after partially collapsing. The penthouse apartment in One57, which is planned be the tallest residential property in Manhattan at 90 storeys, sold earlier this year for more than $90 million.

 The Plaza along Water Street in lower Manhattan is flooded after Superstorm Sandy hit New York City
Picture: EPA/JUSTIN LANE

 A flooded car park in the Wall Street area of lower Manhattan

A still taken from a surveillance camera capturing footage of water engulfing an underground station in Hoboken, N.J.

 Rising water, caused by Superstorm Sandy, rushes into a subterranean parking garage in the Financial District of New York

 Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site in New York

 Water reaches street level at the West Street entrance to the Battery Park Underpass

 This photo issued by MTA New York City Transit shows an emergency dam erected across the train tracks at IRT Subway Lenox Terminal at 148th Street, in Harlem, New York, as part of flood preparations

 Fire fighters evaluate the scene of an apartment building in New York after the front wall collapsed due to Hurricane Sandy

 An emergency worker carries an elderly resident from flood waters brought on by Superstorm Sandy in Little Ferry, New Jersey

 The storm surge engulfs the Inlet section of Atlantic City, N.J.

 An ambulance is stuck in over a foot of snow near Belington, West Virginia. Superstorm Sandy buried parts of West Virginia under more than a foot of snow, cutting power to at least 264,000 customers and closing dozens of roads.

 Waves pound a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio

Emergency personnel stand in front of a tree that fell on a house after being toppled by winds from the remnants of Sandy in the east end of Toronto

 This photo provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York shows a boat resting on the tracks at Metro-North's Ossining Station

 HMS Bounty, a 180-foot (54.86 meters) tall ship, sinks beneath the waves after being hit by Hurricane Sandy

 Cars are partially submerged on a flooded street in Hoboken in New Jersey,

 High winds blow sea foam onto Jeanette's Pier in Nags Head, N.C. as wind and rain from Hurricane Sandy move into the area

 A 'keep off the dunes' sign is buried in Cape May, NJ, after a storm surge from superstorm Sandy pushed the Atlantic Ocean over the beach and into the streets

A street sign in Cape May, New Jersey, is partially buried in sand after the storm surge from Sandy pushed the Atlantic Ocean over the beach

 People view the area where a 2000-foot section of the uptown boardwalk was destroyed by flooding in Atlantic City

 High sand levels cover benches on the beach in West Haven, Connecticut after Sandy hit the area

 Streets are flooded under the Manhattan Bridge in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, N.Y.

 Taxis line a flooded street in Queens, New York, as Hurricane Sandy batters the East Coast

Homes and vehicles are destroyed after a fire caused by Superstorm Sandy swept through Breezy Point, Queens

 A National Guard humvee travels through high water to check the area after the effects of Hurricane Sandy in Ocean City, Md.

 A fire destroyed around 50 homes in a flooded neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The Breezy Point district was left a smouldering tangle of wood and metal after the blaze. Firefighters said it was a miracle that only two minor injuries were reported.

 Debris litters a flooded street in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn

 Michael Wirtz braves flood waters and high winds along North Michigan Avenue in Atlantic City

 Breezy Point had been extensively flooded by Sandy's record storm surge, and firefighters were hampered in their efforts to bring the blaze under control. Breezy Point is a private beach community in the Rockaway area, a narrow spit of land barely above sea level that thrusts into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of John F Kennedy International Airport.

 A man walks through a deserted Times Square in New York ahead of Superstorm Sandy

 Medical workers assist a patient into an ambulance during an evacuation of New York University's Tisch Hospital after its backup generator failed when the power was knocked out by a superstorm

 A driver pictured in his classic American car drives along a wet road as a wave crashes against the Malecon in Havana, Cuba.

 People walk on a street littered with debris after Hurricane Sandy hit Santiago de Cuba

A boy puts his feet into oversized rain boots as heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy pour down in Port-au-Prince.