Photos: Breezy Point ravaged by floods from Sandy, then fires

(Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of residents of Breezy Point found their homes destroyed by a six-alarm fire that ripped through the beach community in Queens, New York, Monday night and into Tuesday morning.

As the Associated Press reports:

By Tuesday morning, charred foundations of from 80 to 100 buildings were left in the sand at Breezy Point, a coastal community on Jamaica Bay known for its marshland and shorebirds.

Firefighters arrived at 11 p.m. Monday to find water chest-high in the streets, and used a boat to make rescues as orange flames engulfed home after home. The water and high winds whipping the coast from Sandy kept the blaze raging for several hours as firefighters hauled hoses while sloshing in ankle-high water.

“We watched the whole place go up in flames. It was hell night. It was the devil’s night,” said resident Thomas Reicherter.

Here are scenes from the devastation:

Gavin Byrne surveys the damage at Breezy Point. (Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (C) views damage. (Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images)

A fire fighter surveys the smoldering ruins of a house in the Breezy Point. (Mark Lennihan / AP)

Deidre Duffy sifts through the wreckage of her home. (Shannon Stapleton / Reuters)

(Ramin Talaie / EPA)

(Frank Franklin II / AP)

(Mike Groll / AP)

Read more about the damage at Breezy Point here.