Sandy Cleanup Continues In The Rockaways

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The clean-up effort following superstorm Sandy continues in the Rockaways.

Hundreds of homeowners continue throwing out water-logged clothes, furniture and other personal items destroyed in the flooding.

Mayor Bloomberg earlier in the day Tuesday said sanitation crews have already removed more than 55,000 tons of garbage and storm debris since Sandy hit.

"FEMA told us that you really have to get down to the bare walls and the studs, so we took out all the sheet rock and the flooring and everything else," homeowner Bob Guarneri told CBS 2's Elise Finch.

"There's not much we're getting on our home insurance, we're hoping FEMA really comes through and supports us," Linda Guarneri said. "We're more fortunate than most so we're grateful for that, to even be here talking to you."

Another Rockaways resident Dylan Sirgiovanni said he also feels grateful to have friends help him remove wet wood paneling and insulation from his family's home.

"We're really lucky because a lot of houses and a lot of my friends and family got it way worse than us, this is just the basement," Sirgiovanni told Finch.

Christine Mone and her husband have been trying to salvage what they can from their home, but said their five children are having a hard time coping with the storm.

"They're devastated, half of their lives are being thrown out," Mone told Finch. "No power, staying with friends or family in Brooklyn. Their lives are just turned upside down."

The Rockaways Peninsula is still without power due to the severe storm damage. The outage situation has limited people trying to clean up to do so only from sunrise to sunset.