empty. there is still a little weird feeling going on in town. people are rebuilding still, people are waiting for insurance money, for spa money. reporter: in hamlet s case, insurance didn t cover his losses from flooding and the government programs didn t do much to help him reopen his doors. what mattered in the end was his own sweat equity. we spent five months demoing everything down to the brick, down to the original ceilings, down to the floors, and then we just put it back together, just my family and kids that work with me. reporter: a long beach street, the doughnut is back in business. swing belly s barbecue reopened this weekend. for fran adelson, the lessons of sandy are that communities, whether on long island or oklahoma, shouldn t lose faith in their struggle to rebuild. i would say fight for every dime, every single dime from the insurance companies.
feeling going on in town. people are rebuilding still. people are waiting for insurance money, for sba money. reporter: in hamlet s case, insurance didn t cover his losses from flooding and the government programs didn t do much to help him reopen his doors. what mattered in the end was his own sweat equity. we spent five months demoing everything down to the brick, down to the original ceilings, down to the floors. then we just put it back together just my family and kids that work with me. reporter: along beach stroee the doughnut is back in business. swing belly s barbecue reopened this weekend. for fran, the lessons of sandy are that communities, whether on long island or oklahoma, shouldn t lose faith in their struggle to rebuild. i would say fight for every dime, every single dime from the insurance companies. do not stop, be tenacious.
my family and kids that work with me. along beach street the doughnut is back in business, swing belly s barbecue reopened this week. for fran adelson the lessons of sandy is that communities whether on long island or oklahoma shouldn t lose faith in their struggle to rebuild. i would say fight for every dime, every single dime from the insurance companies. do not stop. be tenacious. i don t care if you need to have it become your secon full time job. do it. go for it. you deserve it. you ve been paying insurance all along. do not stop until you get what you deserve, until you re able to rebuild and get back in your home. reporter: the people of long beach say their greatest asset in rebuilding came not from the federal government or the insurance industry but their own tight-knit community. in new jersey alone, storm damage from sandy has been estimated at more than $36 billion, with what 365,000 homes