An abandoned exercise bike sits in a sand dune near a home destroyed last year by Superstorm Sandy in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on October 27, 2013. Progress is visible in some areas along the beachfront while others remain badly damaged, days before the one year anniversary of the storm. #

A home destroyed by Superstorm Sandy is enveloped in overgrowth in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island in New York City, on October 23, 2013. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has said that area should be returned to nature, initiated on a voluntary $400 million buyback program for 418 homes in the low-lying neighborhood situated between salt marshes and the Atlantic Ocean that was devastated by surging floodwaters in the historic October 29, 2012 hurricane. #

Jean and Burt Laurie pose for a photograph on the lot where their house once stood before being destroyed by hurricane Sandy in the Ocean Breeze section of Staten Island, on October 23, 2013. Many on the low lying south shore of Staten island continue to struggle to recover from the hurricane which destroyed hundreds of homes on the island with just days until the one year anniversary of the October 29, 2013 storm. #

The remains of a swimming pool, next to where a home destroyed by Superstorm Sandy once stood in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island, on October 23, 2013. As the one year anniversary of the storm approaches and as demolition begins, homes in Oakwood beach now lay mostly vacant and abandoned as the modest ocean-side neighborhood which now resembles a ghost town is set to all but disappear. #

Signs are taped to the front door of a home in the New Dorp Beach area in the Staten Island borough of New York, on September 20, 2013. A year after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across the eastern United States, only a fraction of the aid money earmarked for recovery has been used, in what some claim is a painfully slow and opaque process. #

A vehicle abandoned and destroyed by Superstorm Sandy sits in a yard overgrown with weeds and brush in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island, on October 23, 2013. #

A tire swing hangs from a tree where a home destroyed by Superstorm Sandy once stood in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island, on October 23, 2013. As the one year anniversary of the storm approaches and as demolition begins, homes in Oakwood beach now lay mostly vacant and abandoned as the modest ocean-side neighborhood which now resembles a ghost town is set to all but disappear. #

Rockways residents float lanterns containing handwritten personal messages in the water at the conclusion of "Rockaways Rising: Hands Scross the Sand," commemorating the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, on October 27, 2013, in New York. #

This combination of October 29, 2012 and (click to view transition) October 20, 2013 photos shows sea water flooding the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in New York as Superstorm Sandy struck the city, and traffic entering nearly a year later. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (AP Photo/John Minchillo) # #

This combination of October 29, 2012 and (click to fade) October 17, 2013 photos shows a darkened lower Manhattan during Superstorm Sandy as seen from the Brooklyn Heights promenade, and the same view nearly a year later. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) # #

A before-after pair of images shows a truck driving through storm surge flooding of a road during Superstorm Sandy in Southampton, New York, on October 29, 2012 -- and (click to fade) another truck turns on the same road one year later. The historic storm killed at least 159 people and damaged more than 650,000 homes when it made landfall on October 29, 2012, devastating parts of New York, New Jersey and several other states. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

A photo pair from October 29, 2012, and (click to fade) October 23, 2013, shows homes in Hampton Bays, New York flooded, and then recovering one year later. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

Before: a playground slide stands surrounded by the storm surge of Superstorm Sandy in Bellport, New York, on October 30, 2012. After: the same slide photographed one year later, on October 23, 2013. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

In the first photo, taken October 29, 2012, the storm surge raised by Sandy surrounds a house in Southampton, New York. The second image (click to fade) was taken on October 23, 2013 of showing the same home a year later. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

This combination of November 14, 2012 and (click to fade) October 17, 2013 photos shows construction equipment working on debris collected during the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy in the parking lot of Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaway section of Queens, and the empty lot almost a year later. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) # #

A photo pairing from December 4, 2012 and (click to fade) October 21, 2013 shows the ruins of more than 100 homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York following Superstorm Sandy and new construction to replace them, a year later. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) # #

This combination of February 25, 2013 and (click to fade) October 13, 2013 photos shows the sun rising in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, behind the Jet Star Roller Coaster which had been sitting in the ocean after part of the Casino Pier was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy, and the same empty site nearly a year after the storm. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (AP Photo/Mel Evans) # #

The "before" photo, taken November 29, 2012, shows a park bench standing in the middle of a heavily damaged section of the boardwalk in Long Beach, New York. After: On October 24, 2013, a pedestrian walks past the same spot almost a year later, after repairs had been made. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

Before: November 8, 2012, debris stands piled outside of homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy in the Queens neighborhood of Belle Harbor. After: October 23, 2013, the same street, photographed almost a year later. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

A photo pairing from October 31, 2012, and (click to fade) October 22, 2013, shows homes in Sea Bright, New Jersey, damaged by Superstorm Sandy, then their condition one year later. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #

In the first photo, taken November 6, 2012 a man walks down Shore Front Parkway surrounded by debris left by the storm surge of Sandy, in Queens. The second image (click to fade), taken on October 24, 2013, shows two men walking their dog down Shore Front Parkway in the same location almost a year afterwards. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) [click image to view transition - javascript required] (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # #