Family of NY, NJ residents react

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - Local Hampton Roads residents who originally hail from further north have been carefully eyeing the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey.

Sandy is responsible for at least 39 deaths in the United States, including 10 in New York City.

"It was horrifying," said New York native Lorretta Murrell. "I can not actually believe this was happened, because we are the city that never sleeps."

"When I talked with my mother today she said nothing like this has happened in her lifetime," New Jersey native David Roome said.

Murrell is from the Bronx and says her family back home is okay, but like so many others in that area, doesn't have power. 

"If I was there I would probably be in tears," Murrell said. "I was very emotional, because this is something that never happens."

All day Tuesday, Williamsburg resident Susan Radosta's friends have been sending her pictures from her home in New Jersey. Radosta has been glued to the TV in disbelief.

"If I went up there right now I would be crushed. It's my home," Radosta said. "It's where I lived for so many years. It's where my children were born."

Radosta has heard from her family and most of her friends, yet she says she still feels a sadness. The same sadness is felt by Roome, who is stunned at the damage to Atlantic City.

"To see water up to your waist between the casinos and to see part of the boardwalk gone... it's amazing," Roome said. "That stuff has been there for close to a century and all it took was one storm."

"I'm sure New York will definitely come back," Murrell said. "We don't have a choice, because everybody loves New York so we will be back."