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Five Years Later, Families Look Back On Giving Birth During Superstorm Sandy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Five years ago, Superstorm Sandy killed dozens of people in New York City and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.

But on that disastrous day, there were those who brought new life into the world and became proud parents, CBS2's Erin Logan reports.

It's a day dozens of mothers still can't believe they survived at a major New York City hospital.

"We all tell him that he was born during a big storm," Emily Bolton-Blatt said.

Bolton-Blatt and Kenneth Hulett Jr.'s son, Kenny, knows all about Superstorm Sandy. For starters, October 28 is his birthday. He's five years old.

But for his parents and many others at NYU Langone Health it was a day of disaster mixed with unimaginable joy.

"I think if I knew and saw more of the damage the storm had done, I probably would have freaked out more," Bolton-Blatt said.

The hospital lost power and was flooded. Staffers were carrying mothers and infants out of the building and into ambulances in the midst of the deadly storm. Babies in the intensive care unit had their lungs filled by doctors and nurses squeezing air pumps.

"Many people never thought they could do what they did," said Dr. William Schweizer, vice chair of clinical OB-GYN. "But people pulled out of their soul what they could do."

"It was chaotic. There were people going up the stairs, people going down the stairs, no lights. And I turned to him and I said, 'Do not take your eyes off that baby,'" Tamar Weinstock said.

It was an emotional day for her family, too. A photo shows her with a glow stick in a dark hospital room after giving birth to her son, Stone.

"It's not lost on us what everybody else went through," Allon Weinstock added. "We were really, really lucky."

The families say even though seeing your child for the first time is one of the happiest days of your life, it was difficult to not shift thoughts and think about the devastation others were dealing with during the natural disaster.

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