ALGONQUIN – Local candy shops are scrambling to stock shelves for the holidays after Superstorm Sandy shut down a leading novelty chocolate supplier in New York.

Many regional stores depend on the Madelaine Chocolate Co., based in Rockaway Beach, for everything from chocolate hearts and roses for Valentine's Day to chocolate eggs for Easter. The company also provides a number of other services that independent retailers use to create boutique confections.

Sandy slammed into the East Coast on Oct. 29, causing massive power outages and flooding from Virginia to Maine. Queens, which includes the Rockaway Peninsula, was hit particularly hard.