ROGER KIMBALL: This Metamorphosis Will Require a Permit: Sandy wrecked our house, but bureaucrats are keeping it broken.

Like many people whose houses were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy, my family and I have been living in a rented house since the storm. Unlike some whose houses were totalled, we could have repaired things and been home toasting our tootsies by our own fireplace by now. What happened?

Two things: zoning (as in “Twilight Zone”) and FEMA.

Kafkaesque, indeed.