The recovery was already in full swing by Thursday afternoon, but there was still piles of devastation everywhere on New Dorp Lane. As I pulled over near Miller Field, towards the end of the mile-long line of cars and pedestrians lined up for the gas that was allegedly supposed to start flowing at the Hess station, there was a palpable panic in the car. The death toll was starting to climb quickly as emergency responders and FEMA started making more thorough rounds of hard-hit neighborhoods. Phone calls, text messages, and emails had all gone unanswered. As far as the outside world could tell, Julija simply stopped existing around 7 p.m. on Monday night, when she last responded to someone on Facebook.

Photo: Courtesy of Cindy Melera Photography