Though they live just a half-mile from the Paerdegat Basin in Brooklyn, George and Laura Fishman were spared the kind of damage that upended their neighbors’ lives during Hurricane Sandy. (There were not, for instance, fish in their basement.)

But that posed a problem of its own.

How, the Fishmans asked themselves, can we prepare for the next one? Should we buy flood insurance? Should we elevate our boiler and water heater? Should we get out altogether?

(Read the entire story on The New York Times)