SOPHIA SCHMIDT / NPR – When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore in 2012, it damaged houses up and down the coast. But not Amanda Devecka-Rinear’s home.

The small wooden house survived untouched. It happened to be lifted on pilings for construction work, so it stayed above the floodwaters.

She says it felt incredibly lucky that the house survived the storm, while homes around it were devastated …