80 to 100 homes were destroyed Monday night in a massive fire in Breezy Point, Queens.
Nearly 200 firefighters were called to battle the flames around 11 p.m.
Floodwaters forced firefighters to use boats to make rescues.
Three people, including one firefighter, suffered minor injuries.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the neighborhood on Tuesday.
"On the Rockaway Peninsula, I walked through the part of Breezy Point that was absolutely devastated by the wind-fed fast moving fires that took more than 80 homes last night," Bloomberg said. "To describe it as looking like the pictures we've seen of the end of World War II is not overstating it. The area was completely leveled."