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Normalcy Slowly Returning For Residents In Storm-Battered Rockaways

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Nearly two months after superstorm Sandy devastated the Rockaways, life is slowly getting back to normal for some residents.

The lights are back on along Beach 116th Street, and the piles of debris that had littered the roads, sidewalks and beaches has been cleared away.

WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reports

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About 90 percent of the wreckage and debris left behind by the storm has been hauled away, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But despite the effort to clean up the Rockaways, residents said there is still a long way to go to get back to the way things were.

"I have to tell you, everybody is kind of defeated. we have that fighting spirit but it's still kicking us pretty hard," longtime Rockaways resident Ivy Farrell told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman. "We need something to pick us up."

Other residents said with Christmas almost upon us, he is getting the spirit.

"My lights are on at my house as they go on every year," a resident named John told Silverman.

Amid all the clearing up, he said it was important to him and to the community find a few minutes to decorate.

"They'll be on this year and next year also. We're going to rebuild no matter what," he said.

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