Watch CBS News

Big Comeback This Summer For Sandy-Ravaged Long Beach Island

BEACH HAVEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The summer season is ending, and business owners on Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore have been recounting what it took to open after Superstorm Sandy.

As WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported, the storm sent 6 or 7 feet of water into some homes on Oct. 29 of last year, and left some municipalities on the island without working ATMs or grocery stores.

Big Comeback This Summer For Sandy-Ravaged Long Beach Island

A Slice of Heaven pizzeria in Beach Haven had 3 feet of water inside after the storm.

"The walls were demolished, the floor was demolished, all of the equipment was demolished and it was bad," said restaurant owner Dominic Nesello. "It was really bad."

Nesello was not optimistic about the future for his establishment.

"I thought that this was going to be the worst summer ever," he said.

Nesello said he considered closing for good, but only "for about five minutes."

"I couldn't walk away," he said, "just couldn't do it."

And ultimately, things worked out.

"It actually turned out that I'm actually having a better summer than last year, if you can believe that," he said.

The business reopened Memorial Day weekend.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.