A fire has destroyed at least two dozen 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.
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.
The unprecedented flooding hampered efforts to fight the massive. More than 190 firefighters battled the blaze. Floodwaters were chest high on the street and firefighters used boats to make rescues, a fire department spokesman said.
Eileen Blair and Keith Klein assess the damage caused by a fire at Breezy Point, in the New York City borough of Queens
A girl stands among homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point
A view shows homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy at the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York
A fire burns in the flooded Breezy Point neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Queens
The fire destroyed between 80 and 100 houses in the flooded Breezy Point neighbourhood
Firefighters approach Breezy Point to battle the blaze
People stand among homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point
Fire-damaged homes are silhouetted against the sky
Keith Klein walks through homes damaged by a fire at Breezy Point
Flood damage is seen in Breezy Point after superstorm Sandy
A rainbow forms over Breezy Point after Superstorm Sandy
These photos are intense. The devistation left behind from Sandy is heartbreaking.
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