Working from different locations across the Atlantic seaboard, they captured ordinary people getting ready to greet the superstorm. And when Sandy made landfall the night of Oct. 29, they braved rising floodwaters, high winds and driving sheets of rain to photograph the storm’s impact on several communities.
Keep following @TIME on Instagram for the latest photos filed by our photographers, and check back on LightBox for more of our storm coverage throughout the week.
New Yorkers charge their mobile phones with generators provided by Percy's Tavern, located on Avenue A and 13th Street in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA worker at Old Homestead Steakhouse in Manhattan hands a policeman a steak. Without electricity, the steakhouse is clearing out their freezersMichael Christopher Brown for TIMECon Edison workers clean a manhole on 7th Avenue and 22nd Street in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMENew Yorkers wait to board a crowded city bus on 1st Avenue and 14th Street in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMENational Guard of the 169th Infantry, Alpha Company, prepare to lend assistance to citizens near 25th street in Manhattan.Michael Christopher Brown for TIMEA man pushes a man in a wheelchair across 1st avenue in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEThe following photographs were taken Oct. 30, 2012
A firefighter from Engine 1 ascends a tower ladder to cut a dangling piece of facade from a building on Broadway, near Franklin Street, in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEThe John B. Caddell, a tanker ship, ran aground on Staten Island during the Sandy storm surgeBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEThe destruction in Breezy Point following the fire and storm surgeBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMESurveying the destruction in Breezy PointBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEMichael, a hearing impaired man, fled his sisters home and spent the night in a Breezy Point churchBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEA partially submerged car dealership in Monmouth County, N.J.Ed Kashi—VII for TIMERoute 35 in Mantoloking, N.J.Andrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMEA house was washed at least 500 yards from the nearest neighbor's into a lagoon behind Mantoloking, N.J.Andrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMEBeachfront properties at Belmar, New JerseyAndrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMEThe three street wide peninsula of Mantoloking, N.J.Andrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMESurveying the damage to the the car dealership that he and his wife built over the past three years in Asbury Park, New JerseyAndrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMEPoint Pleasant, N.J.Andrew Quilty—Oculi for TIMEPart of the famous Atlantic City boardwalk was destroyed by Hurricane SandyEd Kashi—VII for TIMEA portion of Atlantic City's boardwalk was washed away last nightEd Kashi—VII for TIMEResidents gather historical photos strewn around town. Like dozens of beach communities along the Jersey Shore, Keyport was devastated by Hurricane SandyEd Kashi—VII for TIMEA woman observes the Statue of Liberty from Battery ParkMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEDestruction in Keyport, N.J.Ed Kashi—VII for TIMEA woman uses an iPad to photograph exposed bedrooms inside a building with a collapsed facade on 8th Avenue in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEHigh tide at Compo Beach in Westport, Conn.Stephen Wilkes for TIMEA woman uses her cell phone while being evacuated from the New York University Medical Center. Ambulances with license plates from around the country were lined up to receive patientsMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA couple walk around a fallen tree on 6th Avenue, near 18th street, in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA truck submerged in water at the entrance to the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel in Lower ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEDavid Young's destroyed 100-year-old barn in Wilton, Conn.Stephen Wilkes for TIMEUprooted trees in Montclair, N.J, the morning after Sandy made landfallEd Kashi—VII for TIMEThe following photographs were taken on Oct. 29, 2012
The area under the Brooklyn Bridge during high tideBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEA car is submerged in floodwater on Avenue C, near 14th Street, in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEFiremen search for people trapped in their cars at 14th Street and Avenue C in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA minivan is consumed by both flames and storm surge in a low lying area of BrooklynBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEWater pours into a parking garage on Avenue C in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEThe water level slowly climbs on many streets in lower ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEWith much of lower and midtown Manhattan in the dark, the Empire State Building lights up the skyMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA passenger seeks refuge from the storm in the Staten Island Ferry terminal in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEDoors are barricaded with sandbags in New York CityMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEDowntown Newark, N.J., during the early afternoon, as Hurricane Sandy moves closerEd Kashi—VII for TIMEWaves begin crashing over Chelsea Piers in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEStorm surges flood the streets during low tide in Milford, Conn.Stephen Wilkes for TIMESandbags line the waterfront of downtown Jersey City, N.J., with the unfinished World Trade Center towering over lower Manhattan across the roiling Hudson RiverEd Kashi—VII for TIMESandbags line the waterfront of downtown Jersey City, N.J., with the unfinished World Trade Center towering over lower Manhattan across the roiling Hudson RiverMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEThe fire department on South Street, in Manhattan, prepares to meet the rising waterMichael Christopher Brown for TIMENew York City firefighters look up at a crane dangling from a building on 57th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, in ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEA statue braves the winds of Hurricane Sandy on the waterfront of Jersey City, N.J., with the unfinished World Trade Center looming over lower ManhattanEd Kashi—VII for TIMEA man stands in the heavy surf near Coney Island as Sandy moves towards landBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIMEAn early Halloween reveler walks along the Jersey City harbor, in New Jersey, as the Hudson River churnsEd Kashi—VII for TIMETraffic was thin on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway, which was later shut down because of the stormEd Kashi—VII for TIMEA subway stop is barricaded from the rising water, near the southern tip of ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMEAn intrepid skateboarder in Montclair, N.J., before Hurricane Sandy reaches shoreEd Kashi—VII for TIMEA boarded-up storefront taunts Hurricane Sandy, in Bridgeport, Conn.Stephen Wilkes for TIMESandbags line the entrance to an office building on Broadway in downtown ManhattanMichael Christopher Brown for TIMECollege students brave strong winds and rain on the coast of Milford, Conn.Stephen Wilkes for TIMEStorm clouds bear down on the Statue of Liberty as Hurricane Sandy approaches New York CityBenjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIME
