Stories of 2012: Sandy Strikes the East Coast

Merrimack Patch has it's first full year in the books and what a year it's been! We re-elected President Barack Obama to another four years, and hey, the Mayan apocalypse didn't happen, so congratulations, we're all still here.

From the opening of the Merrimack Premium Outlets to another Halloween storm that cut power to thousands for days, there's been no shortage of news in town. We've seen businesses and residents in the community doing wonderful things to support their neighbors and communities as far away as Haiti. There's been business growth, and sadly a few closures.

There have been exciting moments in sports with the boys varsity basketball state championship, the baseball team playing, but unfortunately losing their state championship, and the Merrimack Cardinals Midget Cheerleaders win at nationals earlier this month. Another Rock'n Ribfest was written into the books, as was a continually-growing Merrimack Fall Festival and Business Expo, and the midway returned to town on the Fourth of July after a short hiatus.

Join us as we count down some of the top stories of the year between today and Dec. 30. Thank you for making this a wonderful year. Enjoy the final days of 2012, we can't wait to see what 2013 has in store!

3. Sandy Strikes the East Coast

For the second year in a row, a Halloween storm made for a less than ideal final few days of October.

On Oct. 29, wind and rain picked up in Merrimack right around 3 p.m. but Hurricane Sandy had already made headlines in the New York and New Jersey area where communities were pummeled and New York City under feet of water.

Though we did not take the brunt of Sandy's wrath in New Hampshire, she swept through with enough wind to take down power lines across Southern New Hampshire, cutting power to just under 200,000 PSNH customers during the storm. Generators hummed around Merrimack, and again the warnings came from the fire department of living safely with generators running after multiple calls for carbon monoxide exposure.

In Merrimack, thousands were left in the dark for days as stubborn repair projects thwarted efforts to reconnect power and New Hampshire was left short on repair crews from Canada who were rerouted to the disaster zone a few states south.

For the second year in a row trick-or-treat was postponed to the Sunday after it was scheduled for and school was canceled for two days due to safety concerns the first day and power issues the second.

The best stories that came from this storm however, were not those of wind and rain, flooding and power outages. They were of the way communities came together all around the country to aid the cities and towns that were decimated by the storm.

Between supplies drives by local residents with a tie the areas hit, or town organizations that coordinated efforts to move much needed items for clean up and getting back on track, the stories of working together show that in the face of disaster, compassion and a desire to help are still alive and well in America.

Read more about Hurricane Sandy and the relief efforts here.

Catch up on our other stories of the year:

4. Burgeoning Business in Merrimack

5. Recall on Tainted Steroids has Far Reaching Effects

6. Teacher Awarded for Leadership in Science

7. Building a Sense of Community

8. Gone too soon

9. Jehovah's Witnesses Get OK to Build