<p><strong>Kim Johnson on Tuesday surveys the destruction around her flooded apartment in Atlantic City, <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/united-states/new-jersey-guide/">New Jersey</a>—one of several southern New Jersey coastal communities that bore the brunt of <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/153841.shtml?gm_psurge">Hurricane Sandy</a>'s storm surge Monday night. Rivers of seawater gushed down city streets, swamped buildings, and destroyed a section of the <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/us-boardwalks/">city's iconic boardwalk</a>. </strong></p><p> "The level of devastation at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable," New Jersey Governor <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/governor/">Chris Christie</a> told reporters in a Tuesday morning briefing. </p><p> As of Tuesday, Sandy's <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/united-states-guide/">U.S.</a> death toll stood at 38, many of whom were victims of downed trees and <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/hurricane-profile/">hurricane</a>-force winds that howled at up to 80 miles (129 kilometers) an hour. The disaster left more than 8.2 million people without power, and travel ground to a halt in, around, and above many Northeast cities. </p><p> (Related: "<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121030-hurricane-sandy-science-weather-nation-storm-path/">Sandy Far From Finished: Why Storm's Still Super, Headed for New Targets</a>.") </p><p><em> —Brian Handwerk</em></p>