Much of the South Jersey landscape is still dark and gloomy, but the lights are on and the casinos are open.
The casinos are obviously an economic engine for Atlantic City, and all but one of the engines has been restarted.
In Ventnor, the police roadblocks light up the sky. The streets are still quiet and most businesses, even Wawa are closed as a result of the 6:00 p.m. curfew.
But the cleanup is underway.
"We tried to get everything up that we could," said Jimmy Accardi.
Jimmy Accardi lives along the bay. His garage and a first floor bedroom took on water, but the damage is minimal.
"We had about 30 inches in the basement," he said. "There was fish swimming in our basement."
The economic engine of the area, the casinos, is slowly opening up. The Borgata opened at 4:00 p.m. Friday and the Tropicana opened at 6:00 p.m.
Some of the small businesses in the area also began to open, many of them saying they can't afford to lose a week's worth of profits.
"We have been through a little bit of difficulty, but we are coming through slowly but surely," said Victorio Lucky from Hollywood Barbershop in Atlantic City.
Next door at the La Bodega grocery store, customers were once again stocking up on food and other goods.
"It's really sad to come back and see everything. None of our stuff got damaged," said Eliana Garzon.
The scars from Sandy are evident up and down the streets of the area but the people are resilient.
"It takes time. Unfortunately some people are suffering right now and we have to help them," said Garzon.
