When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, living in Bergen County made us all too familiar with the harsh realities of nature's power. Our neighborhood was one of many that suffered extensive flooding and power outages. We spent days bailing water out of our basement, trying to salvage what we could. Neighbors really came together, though, sharing generators and helping each other clean up the mess left behind. I remember how local schools and community centers opened up as shelters for those who got hit the hardest. It was a tough time, but it showed us the strength of our community when we needed it the most. If you're planning to dive deeper into natural disaster stories from Bergen, you'll find no shortage of resilience and community spirit here. It's this sense of solidarity that's probably the silver lining to these harsh memories.