He got out relatively okay...
he lives about 200 ft from the beach in Long Island in an old house built like a fort in the early 1900's.
He took a bunch of 2x6's and built ramps in his garage and got his cars up off the ground. Said the water came to within a 1/2" of the bottom of the doors but did not get into the inside so he came out well there. He had picked most stuff up so he did not have too much damage there.
In the house, he had moved most stuff of value up out of the basement except for some furniture. He turned off power, gas, etc. The flood pressure overcame the sewerage system and the water came up out of the toilet. He rigged a pump but eventually it could not keep up and water was about 30" deep in the basement so the hot water heater, furniture, sheetrock, etc. are toast but the house was dry above this.
he said he say several cars floating past the house and most of the power transmission poles are broken off on the main lines so it will be quite some time before power is restored on the island.
He got off the Island today and is temporarily at his ex's place. Phone service is very spotty at the moment. He said Sprint lost 18 towers in NYC and is basically out of service.
Winds were up to 107 mph in spots and there are a lot of structures there that were completely flattened so the property damage is massive. Some of his friends lost houses, business, cars, and everything else that could be damaged.