After Sandy passed through New York City, Katie decided to go and see for herself how the city had weathered the storm. She couldn’t get off the island of Manhattan because all the bridges and tunnels were closed. But she was able to jump into one of the few taxis available and set out to witness the destruction firsthand.

“Everywhere I turned the city was turned upside down.” -Katie Couric

Matt Long knows a thing or two about devastation in New York. He is a retired New York City firefighter and was a first responder on 9/11. This week, his community in Breezy Point, Queens was one of the worst hit during Sandy. 80 flooded homes in Breezy were destroyed by a six alarm fire, and Matt’s was one of them. He shared the story of his devastating loss with Katie.

“It was just a huge ball of fire.” -Matt Long

Amid all the disaster, there were a few stories with happy endings. Imagine being in the middle of labor when the power goes out in the hospital. More than 200 patients needed to be evacuated from a New York University Medical Center at the height of Sandy’s wrath when the backup generators failed. Many of the expectant mothers were sent to Mount Sinai Hospital, including Sally Bertough. Sally, her husband James and the Chair of OBGYN at Mt. Sinai, Michael Brodman, joined Katie with their Sandy surprise.

“It was straight out of a disaster movie.” -James Bertough

Social media is becoming increasingly important during natural disasters and breaking news events, and Hurricane Sandy was no exception. More than 17 million Tweets and close to a million photos were sent out about the storm. One of the New Yorkers Tweeting up a storm during the storm was Donald Trump, including Tweeting out a dramatic photo of the crane dangling from a luxury high-rise in midtown.

“We opened it up and thousands of people came in.” -Donald Trump

Hurricane Sandy also put the brakes on a number of campaign events for President Obama and the Republican contender Mitt Romney. And with just six days to seal the deal with voters, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos joined Katie to talk about Sandy’s impact.

Every politician has learned the lesson of Katrina. -George Stephanopoulos

They say in comedy it’s all about the timing. But it doesn’t seem like anyone got that memo to ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. He’s in New York City from LA to do a week of shows live from his hometown of Brooklyn. But much to his dismay, he discovered the city had another guest taking the city by storm. He opened up to Katie about getting engaged to his co-head writer, and his booming career.

“It can’t be a coincidence. I feel this is premeditated.” -Jimmy Kimmel