(MCT) — HACKENSACK, N.J.—As the days without power turned into a week — then nearly two weeks — the residents of a dead-end street in West Milford began to feel they were living in a forgotten neighborhood.

With no utility workers around to suggest anyone was looking out for them, the residents of Hilltop Road looked out for one another in the days after Superstorm Sandy. People with generators offered food, power cords and hot showers to their neighbors, while others worked together to clear trees that had fallen onto homes.