As Hurricane Sandy whipped through the tri-state area, it left 40,000 in the Bronx without power. Trees went down. They crushed cars. Storefronts were damaged, and branches were ubiquitous. Mostly, businesses were closed. For two days, the city shut down.

But despite widespread damage from the storm, Fordham Road — one of the most bustling streets in the borough — began to come back to life swiftly.

“It looks like people can’t wait to get back out,” said Walter Bell, chair of the Public Safety Committee for Community Board 7, two days after the storm. “I hope that businesses are able to recoup.”

Jahaira Jurado, a manager at Kids World said the store lost revenue because of the storm. They closed on the Monday of the storm and opened on a limited schedule on Tuesday. It meant they sold fewer kids’ costumes ahead of Halloween. The costumes went on sale.

Fordham Road Pharmacy saw a steady stream of customers. The store remained open during the hurricane. The store’s manager, Odanny Duran, said the flow of customers was returning to normal now that customers could walk the streets safely.

Fordham Road’s crowds, though sparser than usual, also began to make a return.

Children in costumes held their parents’ hands. They were dressed as vampires, Mario, ladybugs. They held open Halloween themed bags as they popped into stores up and down the hill.

Teenagers played basketball at Devoe Park. On Aqueduct Walk, grey-haired men assumed their usual positions playing dominoes. Onlookers waited to get into a game.

These spots were empty during the storm.

“It was like a ghost town,” said Carlos Font, an employee at Urban Terrain. At his store, the wind blew off the storefront. It was knocked into a neighboring storefront and left a dent. It’ll cost at least $7,000 to replace the storefront.

He said police blocked off intersections around the block to avoid injuries in case another storefront was blown off.

Font said that while people were out and about, business was still slow. “People are trying to get that Halloween spirit,” he said. “It’s not really Halloween, it’s Sandy spirit.”

But people tried.

Wearing a tiny witch hat, Vanessa Mejia pushed a stroller up Fordham Road. She was with a pumpkin (her son, in the stroller) and a young member of a S.W.A.T. team. She was taking her sons trick or treating. She said the storm left branches across her neighborhood. Her lights flickered during the storm. She shrugged slightly, and said, “There’s nothing different.”

Editor’s note: A version of this article was originally published in the Nov. 15-28 print edition of the Norwood News.