Tens of thousands of vehicles damaged by Superstorm Sandy are being temporarily stored on runways and taxiways at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York. The vehicles were recovered, processed and stored by Insurance Auto Auctions, a salvage auto auction company specializing in total-loss vehicles. The company made a deal with the Town of Riverhead to lease the airport land and then the vehicles will be auctioned online.

The Sandy-hit cars here sprawl over two runways that stretch 2 and 3 kilometers respectively. The first area rented by IAA covers 54 acres (22 hectares) but the company later contracted for more. IAA is able to rent the runways because the airport opens only in summer. The runways started to fill it at the end of November, but it has to be cleared by April when the runway opens for business.

IAA is getting rid of the vehicles at bargain prices, such as $2,025 for what was once a nice 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The auction is taking place in the Long Island town of Medford, and buyers typically have three to five days to get them off the airport runways.

Superstorm Sandy was one of the worst storms ever to strike the region that roared up the US east coast for several days in late October killing more than 110 people, flooding the New York City subway system and knocking out electricity for hundreds of thousands of people. Insurance companies paid out over $25 billion in compensation.

via France24 and NationalPost