David Friedman / NBC News

Kathleen Campbell, 85, stays with her daughter's family in Hawthorne, N.Y., while she is displaced from her home in Breezy Point. Campbell's daughter Ann Marie Pawlowicz, and granddaughters Kalina, 16, and Julia, 8, play with the family dog in the background.

Kathleen Campbell has had a bad night. It’s nothing a cup of fresh brewed tea won’t fix, but Campbell, 85, likely faces many more less-than-comfortable nights on her daughter’s living room sofa.

Just three months ago, Campbell was riding her three-wheeled cycle on the smooth and level streets of Breezy Point, a cheerful and close-knit community at the far end of the islands called the Rockaways in Queens. Now she is shuttling among three houses – her daughter Ann Marie Pawlowicz’s 1890s home in Westchester, N.Y., another daughter in New Jersey and her sister’s home near Philadelphia.

Campbell’s lifestyle is one of the many casualties of Superstorm Sandy, which sent floodwaters surging through homes when it hit Oct. 29, damaging more than 2,000 homes and starting a fire that burned more than 100 houses to the ground. The beachfront village, whose population plummeted from 12,000 in the summer to around 4,000 the rest of the year, provided a way of life not often seen in the sprawling suburbs of most cities. Generations of the same family jealously guarded their modest homes, and they took care of their own.

Like so many other elderly residents there, Campbell could “age in place”, living alone after her husband died in 2009, despite a heart condition and the onset of what might be dementia. It’s a concept that many communities have embraced, and that groups like the AARP and the National Council of State Legislatures are encouraging.  When people age in place, they stay in their homes, perhaps adapting them for more limited mobility, rather than moving to elder care facilities. And it’s a way of life that seems to have just evolved naturally in Breezy Point.

“It’s not uncommon to have three generations living within blocks of each other. It did offer that kind of stability and smalltown closeness,”says Msgr. Michael Curran of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, the main church on Breezy Point’s main drag and one of the places residents sheltered during the height of the storm.

Campbell’s house on Reid Avenue was completely flooded when Sandy hit. “It was like the ocean meeting the bay in your living room,” says Pawlowicz.

The house, which Campbell's late husband, Charlie, built in 1990, is on the first road to the left as you enter Breezy Point. Shelves at her house, filled with carefully catalogued photo albums, were soaked when the floodwaters filled the home. Campbell lost almost everything but the small suitcase she took with her when she fled to Pawlowicz’s home to wait out the storm.

Courtesy of Ann Marie Pawlowicz

Kathleen Campbell rides her tricycle in Breezy Point, N.Y., on Sept. 27, 2012.

Campbell was once a fixture of the community as she rode up and down the narrow alleys on her tricycle. Now it sits rusting in her empty, mudstained house.

The Westchester hamlet of Hawthorne where Pawlowicz lives doesn’t have many level streets. Its Victorian, Craftsman and Care Cod homes are tiered one above another along streets built into a steep, rocky hillside.

“I miss riding my tricycle,” says Campbell in a soft Irish accent. “I was on it twice a day.”

Although Campbell is clearly enveloped in the loving arms of her family, her independence is gone. “She felt safe,” Pawlowicz says. “Even though she has a touch of memory issues.” She sleeps on the sofa because she is uncomfortable with stairs.

Within walking distance to many Breezy Point homes in the 500-acre cooperative were a bank, auto repair shop, the Blarney Castle pub and Deirdre Maeve's Supermarket and, perhaps most important for Campbell, St. Thomas More Church. Most remain damaged and closed months after the disaster.

Breezy Point had naturally what states like Georgia and New Jersey have been spending money to develop – safe, walkable neighborhoods with homes friendly to arthritic bodies.

A survey AARP did in 2008 of Americans over age 50 showed more than half would like to walk, bike or use public transportation, but nearly 40 percent complained about a lack of sidewalks and safe crossings, bicycle lanes or safe places to catch the bus near their homes.

'A hidden little gem'
At Breezy Point, three of Campbell's cousins and a neighbor used to regularly look in on her, making sure she ate her meals and keeping her company. Now they're all displaced too.

David Friedman / NBC News file

Veets Pawlowicz, second from right, is aided by a gang of family, friends and even volunteering strangers as they clean up his mother-in-law Kathleen Campbell's house on Nov. 2, 2012, in Breezy Point.

“I feel like a lot of the neighbors looked out for each other. It was a very simple life. It was great,” Pawlowicz adds as she sets a cup of tea in front of her mother. “It’s all gone now.”

Pawlowicz, 41 and the mother of two girls aged 8 and 16, finds herself a member of the “sandwich generation” – trying to juggle her job as a nurse with raising children and caring for an elderly parent. On weekends she and her husband, Witold, make the hour-long drive to Breezy Point to try to rip out drywall and salvage what belongings they can in Campbell’s home. It’s not clear what it will take to rebuild.

“We have pumped out the basement like 35 times. Whatever happened with this storm, it shifted everything. Now it’s like it’s on a spring,” Pawlowicz says. Getting insurance sorted out has been a chore for many Breezy Point owners.

“I haven’t been back to see it yet. Please, God, let’s get back there,” Campbell says.

“Not now, Mom,” Pawlowicz answers gently. “It’s a ghost town.”

The seaside neighborhoods in the Rockaways are among the last to recover from Sandy. Breezy Point is nowhere close to being back to normal. Empty foundations yawn open on the blocks that burned. Elsewhere, houses remain shifted off their foundations. There is still no electricity, so almost everyone clears out as the sun sets. Breezy Point is the last New York neighborhood left without clean water.

Like Campbell, many long to go back home. But for seniors, that will be especially hard, even with family support. “It is going to be tough for an elderly person living alone in a badly damaged home to get that home restored,” says New York’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley.

Curran tries to remain in touch with the seniors who are now scattered to new homes. They're resilient, he says, but "late in life it’s a big adjustment that folks are making.”

Just as they found their own solution when the community was whole, the elderly of Breezy Point have found their own solutions to being homeless. “Most people were able to find a family member or a friend they could move in with and have their needs met,” says Curran, who now commutes himself to attend to his duties at St. Thomas More.

Many families don’t want to talk publicly any more about their situations – a man who moved his elderly father to Dallas, a family who brought their aging parents to Long Island. “I was just talking to a couple – they took their parents in, they are safe,” says Curran. “But they are 85-plus and this is the first time they have ever lived in an apartment.”

Campbell misses the beach, but she doesn’t complain. “We’re on top of the hill,” she says, smiling as she gazes around her daughter’s antique-filled home. “It’s beautiful.” But she mentions again that she misses her tricycle.

“I always say everyone should have a touch of dementia during a disaster,” says Pawlowicz. “The best thing about dementia – my mother laughs. We have been able to cry a little bit, but nobody died.”

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Updated at 1:25 a.m. ET: Rock legends ranging from Roger Waters to The Rolling Stones to Paul McCartney with Nirvana joined together Wednesday night for a massive six-hour concert to raise money for the Robin Hood Relief Fund benefiting victims of superstorm Sandy.

The musicians set a serious tone, wearing mostly black and gray onstage as they encouraged people to call and donate money to help those affected by the devastating storm that killed at least 140 people and destroyed or damaged homes and properties in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other areas.

Alicia Keys, who grew up in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, closed the show with her New York anthem "Empire State of Mind," as doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers and others joined the piano-playing singer onstage. They ended the night chanting "U.S.A."

Keys was one of two women who performed at "The Concert for Sandy Relief." Diana Krall backed McCartney, who sang his solo songs, Beatles songs and played the role of Kurt Cobain with Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. 

Slideshow: 12.12.12 Concert

Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Launch slideshow

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band kicked off the concert with "Land of Hope and Dreams," and followed it up with "Wrecking Ball." 

"Tonight, this is a prayer for all of our struggling brothers and sisters," Springsteen said. After performing a third song, the rocker brought out Jon Bon Jovi, and the pair sang "Born to Run" together.

"I can't believe that Bruce Springsteen is my opening act," Billy Crystal joked after the set. "You can feel the electricity in the building, which means Long Island Power isn't involved." He also reminded viewers about the devastation the storm left behind. "More than 100 people died ... entire neighborhoods wiped out. ... Tonight with your help, we are going to emerge stronger than before."

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, who recently toured with his show "Roger Waters The Wall Live," performed "In the Flesh" and "Another Brick in the Wall" from the band's classic album. He then launched into "Money" and "Us and Them" from "Dark Side of the Moon." 

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder then joined the group for "Comfortably Numb," taking turns on the lyrics with Waters. 

Don Emmert / AFP - Getty Images

Roger Waters performed songs from "The Wall" and "Dark Side of the Moon."

Adam Sandler then took the stage with Paul Shaffer on piano for a little fun, with the comedian tweaking the lyrics to "Hallelujah" to suit the evening. "Hallelujah, Sandy screw ya! We'll get through you, 'cause we're New Yorkers!" the duo sang.

During the show, celebrities -- including Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller and Jake Gyllenhaal -- manned the phone bank to handle call-in donations. There were so many stars there to help, "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a celebrity," Brian Williams joked during the concert.

"Twilight" star Kristen Stewart also made an appearance to urge viewers to donate. She reminded the audience of the massive amount of damage that the storm left behind. "Now is your chance to be Jersey Strong with us," she said before introducing Bon Jovi's performance. The Jersey native kicked off his set with "It's My Life." 

"When this storm hit, we all knew that the healing process would be beginning, but that it was going to take a long time," the rocker said. "(The performers) knew the people we were doing it for wouldn't be able to hear us, to see us. ... This recovery is not going to be quick. ... But we are strong. We are New York. We are New Jersey."

Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Jon Bon Jovi performed "Livin' on a Prayer" and other hits during his set.

Eric Clapton also delivered an energetic set of his own that included "Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out" and "Crossroad Blues."

He was followed by The Rolling Stones, who were introduced by Jimmy Fallon. Frontman Mick Jagger encouraged the crowd to dance and cheer as the band launched into "You Got Me Rocking" and the singer showed off his own slinky moves.

"This has got to be the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled in Madison Square Garden," Jagger later joked of the night's lineup.

Don Emmert / AFP - Getty Images

Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones perform.

Comedian Stephen Colbert also added to the humor. He said that when Sir Paul McCartney asked him for advice on being cool, he told the musician to lose the hair cut and the accent. Colbert then pointed out that helping is also cool. So cool, in fact, that it's like "doing a line of uncut goodwill" and that donating "is the new skinny jeans."

New Yorker Alicia Keys later delivered an emotion-packed performance, first with new tune "Brand New Me" then "No One." After the two-song set, she said, "My city, New York City, is the most resilient city."

After the slower set, The Who kicked things back into high gear with an energetic performance of "Who Are You?" during which singer Roger Daltrey seemingly dropped an F-bomb. While performing "Bell Boy," the band showed video of drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978. Images and videos switched to those of the storm's destruction during "See Me, Feel Me." They ended their long set with "Tea and Theater" and a loud expletive for beer instead. 

Like Colbert earlier, comedian Chris Rock used his humor to urge viewers to donate what they could. "We have raised so much money tonight, the shift's over! We fixed everything! Jersey's fixed, Staten Island, it's all like Beverly Hills right now!" he joked. "Now please go online and donate! One hundred percent of the money raised tonight will go to me! No, to the Robin Hood Relief Fund."

He then introduced the "always humble" Kanye West, who performed "Mercy," "Jesus Walks," "Diamonds Are Forever," "Gold Digger" (a seemingly odd song choice, considering the purpose of the concert) and more.

Kanye was followed by Billy Joel, who started his set with "Miami 2017." The Piano Man had also performed the tune at a benefit concert for the Sept. 11 attacks and an earlier Hurricane Sandy show. His performance also included "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "New York State of Mind," "River of Dreams," "You May Be Right" and closed with "Only the Good Die Young."

Chris Martin of Coldplay was then introduced by actress Blake Lively. The rocker appeared on stage alone with just a guitar in his hands to perform the hit song "When I Ruled the World." 

"I'm so grateful to be here. ... I know you really wanted One Direction, but it's way past their bedtime, so you get one quarter of Coldplay," Martin joked. "I tried to get the guy from 'Gangnam Style,' he wasn't available." Instead, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe appeared and the pair did a duet of the hit "Losing My Religion." According to Brian Williams, Stipe was a surprise performer, even to those who planned the show.

Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz introduced Sir Paul McCartney.

"I love New York!" the former Beatle declared before kicking off the band's rocking tune "Helter Skelter," followed by "Let Me Roll It," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five," "My Valentine" and "Blackbird."

"So recently some guys asked me to go jam with them," McCartney said. "So I showed up, ready to jam, and in the middle of it, these guys said, 'Well, we haven't played together in years, you know?' ... I finally understood I was in the middle of the Nirvana reunion!"

The Beatle then jammed with Nirvana's Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear to a new rock tune. Afterward, he took on the Fab Four's "I've Got a Feeling" and followed up with a firework-infused performance of Wings' "Live and Let Die."

McCartney ended his set by asking "the heroes of Hurricane Sandy" on stage and shaking their hands. He then brought Keys back to wrap up the show with her anthem to the city, "Empire State of Mind."

"Dedicated to all the heroes in New York and beyond," the songstress said in closing. 

The show, which started at 7:30 p.m. ET at New York's Madison Square Garden, was broadcast live on 37 television stations in the United States and more than 200 others worldwide. It was to be streamed on 30 websites.

To make a donation, call 1-855-465-4357, or donate online at 121212concert.org. 

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REUTERS/Andrew Burton

Department of Sanitation Workers survey the Midland Beach neighborhood where many homes are set to be demolished due to Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, New York November 9, 2012.

Residents recognize the occupants right away. They're disaster tourists, people drawn to the scene of a tragedy to glimpse the pictures they've seen on television come to life.

Two weeks after the superstorm socked the region, cleanup continues in New York and New Jersey, which bore the brunt of the destruction. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to 8.5 million in 10 states, and some during a later nor'easter. About 73,000 utility customers in New York and New Jersey remained without power late Sunday, most of them on Long Island.

But the storm didn't just bring darkness and despair; it also brought the gawkers.

"It's a little annoying," said Chris Nasella, who paused as he finished cleaning up a home reduced to a shell on the first floor. "By the same token, I would do it, too. I don't think anyone wouldn't want to look at boats that are picked up and left on the streets. As long as you don't get a kick out of it, it's an amazing thing."

But they left an impression.

"The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."

Separately, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited with disaster-relief workers Sunday in Staten Island's Midland Beach neighborhood, which is still devastated two weeks after Sandy hit.

The lack of power restoration for a relative few in the densely populated region at the heart of the storm reinforced Sandy's fractured effect on the area: tragic and vicious to some, merely a nuisance to others.

Perhaps none of the utilities have drawn criticism as widespread, or as harsh, as the Long Island Power Authority. Nearly 67,000 of the homes and businesses it serves were still without power late Sunday. That was almost all of the remaining outages in New York state.

"We certainly understand the frustration that's out there," LIPA's chief operating officer, Michael Hervey, said in a conference call late Sunday. But, he said, the storm had been worse than expected, no utility had as many workers in place beforehand as it would have liked, and the power was coming back rapidly "compared to the damage that's been incurred."

"I was so disgusted the other night," said Carrie Baram, 56, of Baldwin Harbor, who said she calls the utility three times a day. "I was up till midnight, but nobody bothered to answer the telephone."

LIPA has said it knows that customers aren't getting the information they need, partly because of an outdated information technology system that it is updating. Sunday, executives said they were working on setting up information centers near the most heavily damaged areas. The company also said it had deployed 6,400 linemen to work on restoring power, compared to 200 on a normal day.

"'They're working on it, they're working on it' — that would be their common response," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said Sunday, describing LIPA's interaction with his office.

He said LIPA had failed to answer even simple questions from its customers and that Sandy's magnitude wasn't an excuse.

On Staten Island, Napolitano said "a lot of progress" had been made since the storm hit and especially since her last visit 10 days earlier.

"It seems like a different place," she said. "You can really tell the difference."

But, she added, there was a lot more to do. "The last big chunk" to solve, she said, is the question of how quickly power can be returned to thousands of homes without it.

If homes are not inhabitable even after power returns, she said, the government is finding temporary apartments and hotels where evacuees can stay — preferably in the same community so kids can continue going to the same schools.

REUTERS/Andrew Burton

Lydia Rokosvak walks down her street, where a neighbor has spray painted "Looted by a Neighbor" on a destroyed shed, in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, New York November 9, 2012.

Seaver Avenue on Staten Island was sloppy with mud, sand and curbside mounds of couches, personal photos, mattresses and sodden sheetrock. Mickey Merrell's front porch was askew, and the storm surge nearly knocked a neighbor's house into hers. Across the street a house was washed off its foundation. It was a scene of human misery — and one of New York City's new attractions, just like the construction crane that collapsed and dangled precariously high above mid-town Manhattan on Oct. 29.

"Sometimes it's like we're at the zoo," Merrell said. "So many people come and stop and stare at this place."

Michelle Van Tassel, a Staten Island resident who has friends who lost everything, said she tried to deliver supplies but couldn't get through because there were so many people on the street who had no business being there.

"There were a tremendous amount of people who came into the borough to take pictures, to look at the devastation themselves, and it seemed like more of a tourist attraction down there than it actually felt like people who were trying to help," she said, her voice breaking.

Peter Lisi, a renter who is fighting a landlord trying to evict him from his damaged home, said he doesn't mind the gawkers, "as long as they're not making fun." Some of them are drawn in to what's happening and help, he said.

Domenick and Kim Barone said they could tell the tourists apart from the volunteers because the gawkers' clothes and shoes are clean, and they're often snapping pictures.

"Obviously they have nothing else to do," Kim Barone said. "If this is their source of entertainment, to wallow in other people's despair, I don't have the time. I'm trying just to clean out and save what I can save. I don't really have the time to worry about them." 

Slideshow: Recovering after Sandy

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A snowstorm hits the Northeast as residents are still struggling to pick up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy.

Launch slideshow

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