SEASIDE HEIGHTS - Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy plunged a roller coaster into the sea in what became one of the storm's most enduring images, the ride has been replaced - safely inland this time.

Hydrus opened this month at the Casino Pier amusement park, built above the beach rather than out over the water to prevent another catastrophe.

And it's not only thrilling riders; it's also raising spirits in a section of the Jersey shore where not everything is yet back to normal after Sandy.

A spokeswoman for Casino Pier says the company never doubted it would replace the Jet Star.