As Frankenstorm Sandy rumbled up the East Coast last week, many Massachusetts residents feared they would be forced to relive the Halloween nightmare of last year, when a freak snow storm knocked out power, leaving many communities without electricity for up to a week.

This year, however, stung by criticism after last October’s storm and Tropical Storm Irene, utilities, government officials and business leaders prepared early for Sandy.

The weekend before super storm Sandy’s arrival, NStar, National Grid and Unitil trucks could be seen throughout the commonwealth, as crews cleared tree limbs near power lines to prevent possible outages.

Gov. Deval Patrick backed his demands for an improved performance from utilities with the threat of financial penalties for failure to respond efficiently to power outages and communicate their plans more effectively to customers.

And while about 270,000 customers lost power during the storm, the number had dropped to under 55,000 by late Wednesday. Business leaders also did their part. Many companies encouraged employees to stay at home and telecommute, or closed their offices early  Monday to allow employees to get safely home before the worst of the storm hit.

Even the much-maligned MBTA system communicated effectively, giving commuters several hours’ notice before it shut down at 2 p.m. on Monday. As of early Tuesday morning, trains and subways were up and running, with only a few minor delays and service changes.

And, while media warnings about the importance of stocking batteries, water and enough food for several days may have seemed like overkill, the pre-storm news blitz encouraged residents to prepare for the worst.

In a welcome respite from their bitter campaign contest, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and challenger Elizabeth Warren (D), agreed that their fourth and final debate, scheduled for last Tuesday, should be cancelled. Instead, the political rivals urged that the focus should be on emergency response and disaster relief for those affected by the storm.

But mid-week, however, the duo was back bickering about rescheduling the debate, until Brown finally pulled the plug. Their by now familiar squabbling was a post-storm reminder that life – and politics – goes on.

So does entrepreneurialism, as demonstrated by a slew of enterprising home contractors, who hawked their storm repair skills on Craigslist the day after Sandy’s departure.

The storm’s impact on real estate sales is unclear. An analysis by real estate data firm CoreLogic suggests that as many as 284,000 homes worth more than $87 billion across the East Coast could be at risk of damage from flooding due to megastorm Sandy.

In Massachusetts, the analysis suggested 21,770 Bay State homes worth $7.8 billion could be under threat, including 10,491 in the Boston metro area. Compared with southern Connecticut and parts of New York New Jersey, however, Massachusetts was spared serious damage from Sandy.

Some Bay State realtors reported delays from loans funded by mortgage companies in New York and New Jersey. And mortgage companies based in the Bay State with offices in states most affected by the storm were hobbled by office closings and the possibilities of reappraisals and re-inspections of properties in communities that are determined to be disaster areas.

But for everyone – lenders, realtors, homeowners, homebuyers – the prospect of a delayed closing paled next to the importance of families’ safety.

Sandy was no treat, but this year’s Halloween week storm could have been much worse. Most importantly, the people of Massachusetts showed that when we work together we can handle whatever monster comes our way.