Hauppauge-Based Study Finds LI Biz Community Knocked Back by Sandy

Superstorm Sandy's impact ruined homes and businesses, altered the shoreline, and destroyed icons such as the Long Beach Boardwalk, but that's not all.

A soon-to-be released study by Hauppauge-based accounting firm Albrecht, Viggiano, Zureck & Co. found many businesses saw revenue slide and staffs shrink after the storm.

The report, created in partnership with Ronkonkoma-based Long Island Business News, also sheds a mixed light on 2013. While about half of respondents said they expect their businesses to see revenue climb in 2013, about 88 percent said they have no plans to expand their business this year.

Superstorm Sandy rocked most of Long Island when it hit this past fall, flooding and destroying homes on the South Shore, crippling Long Beach in Nassau County and knocking out power to about 1 million Long Island Power Authority customers, mainly due to falling trees taking out power lines across the sprawling suburbia. For many, power outages lasted weeks, with businesses shut and travel difficult due to fuel shortages.

The survey, as well as the total impact the storm wrought on Long Island, will be discussed at a Jan. 31 event at the Carlyle at Stonebridge in Smithtown at 8 a.m. Local business group the Hauppauge Industrial Association will sponsor the roundtable.