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Homes were destroyed, power was out for weeks and waiting in line for gas for more than an hour became the norm. Three people died in Westchester, two of them children.
Sandy, the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history, lasted from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31 in 2012.
"We're still out there in the Rockaways," Jim Killoran of Habitat for Humanity, said. "We've become disaster experts."
Since Sandy, Killoran said he is concerned about people in the Lower Hudson Valley being ready for another disaster.
"Every small business and homeowner should assume that a disaster will happen again," Killoran said. "What are my preparation plans?"
Killoran said he has called for New York to do better, proposing a natural disaster university when he spoke in front of the Moreland Commission.
"We're still not ready for a disaster," Killoran said. "We're better prepared but we still need to get better."
Sandy and other Lower Hudson disasters like the Sound Shore flooding have taught Killoran to be ready at all times.
"In a second everything can change," Killoran said. "A fire can burn a whole block down. We need to be ready at all times, everyone personally and collectively. We have to create a plan on how we can help each other."
Three years later, Killoran said many people are still not back in their homes and are dealing with the anxiety that came from Sandy and its aftermath. Many people have not received the FEMA assistance they needed or dealt with builders who didn't deliver what was promised, Killoran said.
"We need to keep these people in our mind," Killoran said. "People should think about adopting a Sandy family for the holidays."
Killoran said he remembers spending Thanksgiving after 2012 outside one of his command centers having Thanksgiving with AmeriCorps members.
"People were bringing us food," Killoran said. "It was one of the best Thanksgivings i ever had."
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