Editor’s Note: Part 1 in a series on the Superstorm Sandy disaster and recovery on Long Beach Island, as chronicled by the staff of The SandPaper.

For 50 years and seven months, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 stood alone as the worst trauma modern-day Long Beach Island had ever suffered. On the anniversary year, The Beachcomber devoted its spring 2012 preview issue to what long-time residents often remembered simply as “The March Storm.”