Three months after superstorm Sandy hit the United States, a New Jersey businesswoman has found an unusual way to come to the aid of strictly Orthodox residents whose homes were devastated.

Flora Shepelsky has donated more than 60 sheitels to women who saw their hairpieces damaged when flooding hit Seagate, a coastal town near Coney Island.

After nearly three decades making and selling sheitels at her stores in Manhattan and New Jersey, Ms Shepelsky said she knows how valuable they are to the Orthodox women who wear them. So after spotting a Facebook appeal by Charedi singer Mordechai Ben David, whose wife is a client, she decided to delve into her collection and donate as many as she could spare.

“These women have such horror stories,” she said. “They were so grateful. Right now the last thing these women are thinking about is getting something new.

“I don’t have the money to donate, but I do have hundreds of sheitels in stock,” she said.

“We had no electricity after the storm but we felt lucky, it could have been so much worse. I feel blessed I am able to help others.”