Sandy victims in NJ take advantage of Black Friday - Los Angeles Local News, Weather, and Traffic

For some Hurricane Sandy victims they took advantage of the great deals on Black Friday to buy some essentials that were lost in the storm. 

You can hear it and see it- the holiday hustle and bustle is in full swing at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City. 

"Shop, shop, shop and shop," said shopper Anna Ayum. 

Anna and her mom got up before dawn to do their holiday shopping- and with coupons in hand- they joined other bargain hunters looking for deals in these crowded stores. And they wouldn't have it any other way. 

"It's Black Friday- we're looking for the deals and we don't want to wait until the last minute where we can't have anything on sale," said Anna. "And the excitement of it all, the rush of it all is mostly why we're in the stores that early." 

For the first time ever- the mall opened at midnight for shoppers. But that's not the only thing different this year. While some shoppers, of course, are looking to buy gifts -- others here are taking advantage of Black Friday sales to replace household items they lost because of Sandy. 

"We lost everything- everything destroyed- we buy a stove, refrigerator, dishwasher everything," Flood victim Teresa Pepe. 

Teresa came to Sears for new appliances. Her home in Hoboken was under water after Sandy hit - everything was damaged. 

"Black Friday we see in the paper - they have big sales so we come and pick it up," said Pepe. 

Teresa isn't even thinking about holiday shopping on this Black Friday. She's just trying to get her home and her life back to normal. So maybe this Italian Grandmother can do what she loves best for the holidays -- cook in her new oven. 

"Lasagna, cookies, everything, biscotti -- yeah it's going to be nice, yeah."