Survivors' tales part of the art in Superstorm Sandy exhibit

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (AP) — The stories of people who survived Superstorm Sandy, scrawled in their own handwriting, are an integral part of a new art exhibit remembering the deadly storm and the devastation it caused seven years ago.

The "Just Beachy After Sandy" exhibit at Monmouth University in New Jersey is on display through early December. It incorporates people's survival stories into the artwork, which also includes an obelisk made from slices from trees that fell during the storm.

There are hanging posters resembling beach towels that present Sandy-related data in easy-to-grasp visual terms, and a "climate shelter" where all the trappings of a home that would normally be on the inside — chairs, photographs, drawers — are on the outside, symbolizing the huge mounds of sodden possessions that became refuse and had to be hauled away from the curb after the Oct. 29, 2012, storm. Inside the shelter, a recording of the storm pounding the coast plays on a loop.

It was created by Karen Bright, an art and design professor, and Amanda Stojanov, an assistant professor of communication.

"You mention Sandy around here, and everybody dives right into their story," Bright said. "It's right at the tip of their tongue. I thought, 'How can I make this a communal event?' I wanted to visualize the data and the reality of the storm in a way that's more accessible to people."

The storm was blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S. and Caribbean — including 48 in New York and 12 in New Jersey — and more than $71 billion in damage in this country alone.

The heart of the exhibit is the survivors' stories. Some excerpts:

— "We stayed home for Sandy. Hurricane Irene didn't affect us a year earlier; why would Sandy be any different? We watched the water rise through the...