Getting back to normal after the devastation caused by the mammoth storm Sandy is going to be a long and arduous journey. But for the people of New Jersey, reeling from the wrath of the mammoth storm, Sandy, it is one that has already begun.
Clearing up is underway here after the storm swamped coastal cities along the US eastern seaboard and cut power to millions. At least 64 people are known to have died.
In New York, flooded subway tunnels meant many resorted to getting about on foot. The stock exchange has reopened and La Guardia today should become the last of the city's three airports to reopen.
One municipal worker told reporters pumping is underway but it could take days for everything to dry out and even longer for the debris to be cleared away: "It's a catastrophe. It's going to take a long time to recover from it. At least two, two and a half weeks before you see anything getting done"
People in the New York neighbourhood of Breezy Point must come to terms with the fact that they have lost everything. Fire, fanned by strong winds, destroyed 111 homes. "Before Irene, we packed everything and left anyway, you know, this time I did not pack as much as I usually do, which is why I lost everything." admitted one resident, "But I found my grandson's pictures. I lost him last year, so this is nothing".
