Hypothermia
warning issued to New Yorkers in wake of superstorm
4
October, 2012
New
York’s mayor issued a hypothermia warning as temperatures plummet,
endangering the lives of thousands still without heating after
Hurricane Sandy. He decried energy companies for not restoring power
quick enough in view of the cold snap.
Forecasters
have predicted that temperatures will drop as low as two degrees
Celsius and, with a new storm expected to arrive this coming week,
bringing cold winds, rain and snow, authorities have issued the
health warning.
To
compete with the dropping temperatures the Red Cross has doubled its
efforts in the city, offering warming shelters and blankets to those
to whom power has not been restored.
"We're
working closely with emergency operations centers to stand up warming
facilities, warming shelters, and stocking those with additional
blankets, pillows and everything needed." said Charley
Shimanski, senior vice president of disaster services to Sky News.
New
York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has criticized energy companies in
Long Island for not working fast enough to restore power to deprived
areas of the city. He called it “unacceptable” that some areas
would have to wait up to two weeks before being re-connected.
“In
our view LIPA [Long Island Power Authority], as it’s called, has
not acted aggressively enough,” Bloomberg said. “We realize that
LIPA has outages throughout Long Island, but the Rockaways were the
hardest hit, and when it comes to prioritizing resources we think
they should be first online. So far that does not appear to be the
case and that is just not acceptable.”
Bloomberg
also said it may take a couple of days for emergency petrol supplies
brought in from outside the city on barges to filter through,
although he did say that most of the city’s subway system was now
up and running. He added that the city’s recovery was far from over
and “I don’t think anybody should think that we’re out of the
woods.”
"It's
chaos, it's pandemonium out here," said Chris Damon, who had
been waiting for several hours for petrol, to AP. "It seems like
nobody has any answers."
A
petrol station in Queens where a tanker was filling up cars one at a
time caused a line-up of more than 400 vehicles.
Trucks
have been dispatched throughout the city, but the measure has fallen
woefully short of demand. A fuel rationing plan is currently in place
and authorities have warned citizens to give priority to rescue and
law-enforcement vehicles.
The
area worst hit by the so-called Superstorm is Queens, with over
81,000 people without power. The total death toll within the city in
the wake of the storm is 42 so far, but there have been no reports of
hypothermia-related hospitalizations. In total over 900,000 people in
the New York metropolitan area remain without gas or electricity.
Not
all doom and gloom
In
the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which caused havoc in New York, police
have reported an unexpected slump in crime levels in the city.
Citing
statistics, officers said that murders in the city had fallen by a
record 81 per cent compared with the same period in 2011. Moreover,
rape and petty theft rates are also lower than usual.
"We
have a large number of police officers deployed, we have light towers
deployed, radio cars patrolling. We are focused on the blackout
areas," he said. "We are doing, I think, an excellent job,"
said the New York Chief of police.
Housing
crisis looms as storm victims battle cold
A
housing crisis loomed in New York City as victims of superstorm Sandy
struggled on Sunday without heat in near-freezing temperatures, and
officials fretted displaced residents would not be able to vote in
Tuesday's presidential election.
4
November, 2012
Fuel
shortages and power outages lingered nearly a week after one of the
worst storms in U.S. history flooded homes in coastal neighborhoods,
leaving many without heat and in need of shelter. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said 30,000 to 40,000 people in New York City alone would
need housing.
Overnight,
at least two more bodies were found in New Jersey - one dead of
hypothermia - as the overall North American death toll from Sandy
climbed to at least 111.
"People
are in homes that are uninhabitable," New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo said alongside Bloomberg at a news conference. "People
don't like to leave their home, but the reality is going to be in the
temperature."
Officials
were figuring out how to provide short- and long-term housing for
tens of thousands of people, Cuomo said.
Immediate
plans call for keeping those who have been displaced as near as
possible to their homes, but Cuomo and other officials gave few
details about where they would be housed.
Temperatures
dipped to 39 Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) early on Sunday morning
in New York City, the lowest in days, with freezing temperatures
expected overnight. An early-season "Nor'easter" storm was
expected to hit the battered New England coast this week with strong
winds and heavy rain.
Fuel
supplies continued to rumble toward disaster zones and electricity
was slowly returning to darkened neighborhoods, after the storm
slammed the coast last Monday.
It
would be a "very, very long time" before power would return
to certain neighborhoods along the coast, where buildings were
destroyed, Bloomberg said. Cuomo said fuel shortages are improving
but problems will persist for "a number of days."
RUINED
THINGS
In
the hard-hit borough of Staten Island, Marie Mandia's house had a
yellow sticker on it, meaning the city restricted her use of it. The
storm surge broke through her windows and flooded her basement and
main floor, the retired teacher said.
"I'm
not staying here. There's no protection," said Mandia, 60, who
stood outside by a pile of her ruined things - a washer, drier,
television and furniture. "Here's my life. Everybody's looking
at it."
On
Friday, Bloomberg abruptly called off the city's marathon, which was
set for Sunday, bowing to criticism that the event would divert
resources from flood-ravaged neighborhoods. Instead, hundreds of
runners set off on informal runs to deliver food and clothes to
Staten Island and other areas in need.
Power
restorations over the weekend relit the skyline in Lower Manhattan
for the first time in nearly a week and allowed 80 percent of the New
York City subway service to resume. But with most schools reopening
on Monday, the commute was expected to be slow.
Some
1.9 million homes and business still lacked power across the
Northeast on Sunday, down from 2.5 million the day before.
Despite
the successes in returning power across the region, a quarter of New
Jersey and almost a tenth of New York remained in the dark, the
Department of Energy said. Just after Sandy tore across the densely
populated area, more than 8.5 million customers were without power.
"All
these numbers are nice but they mean nothing until the power is on in
your house," said Cuomo, who warned he would hold the utility
companies accountable "100 percent" for their recovery
work.
ELECTION
FACES 'REAL PROBLEMS'
President
Barack Obama, neck-and-neck in opinion polls with Republican
challenger Mitt Romney, ordered emergency response officials to cut
through government "red tape" and work without delay to
help affected areas return to normal.
Concerns
meanwhile are growing that voters displaced by Sandy won't get to
polling stations on Tuesday. Scores of voting centers were rendered
useless by the record surge of seawater in New York and New Jersey.
Bloomberg
said the Board of Elections has "real problems," and that
the city will do all it can to get people to the polls. Some voters
in New York could be casting their ballots in tents, while New Jersey
is allowing displaced voters to vote by email.
With
the post-storm chaos overshadowing the final days of campaigning, an
NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday found that 68 percent
of those surveyed approved of how Obama handled Sandy and just 15
percent disapproved.
The
two new deaths in New Jersey - where the storm came ashore last
Monday night - included a 71-year-old man who suffered from
hypothermia and a 55-year-old man who died from smoke inhalation in a
house fire, police said on Sunday.
That
raised New Jersey's death toll to 24 while the New York City death
count was 40.
Sandy
killed 69 people in the Caribbean before turning north and hammering
the U.S. Eastern Seaboard on Monday with 80 mile-per-hour (130-kph)
winds and a record surge of seawater that swallowed oceanside
communities, halted transportation and flooded streets and New York
City subway tunnels, where electronics were damaged by sea water.
In
another sign of recovery, New York University's Langone Medical
Center planed a partial reopening of its doctors' offices,
out-patient procedure and testing sites on Monday. The hospital lost
power as Sandy hammered down, forcing patient evacuations Monday
night.
RELIEF
RUNS
New
York's overstretched police got a break with the cancellation of the
marathon, a popular annual race that was expected to draw more than
40,000 runners to the city from around the world.
More
than 1,000 people, many of whom had planned to run the race, crowded
onto two Staten Island Ferry boats early on Sunday, headed to the
stricken borough with relief supplies including food and plastic
bags.
Lara
Duerrschmid, 27, was among the marathon runners boarding a ferry to
help residents of Staten Island. "I know it's going to be tough
to see (the damage), but I just wanted to do something good,"
she said.
New
York's Central Park also was crowded with runners near what would
have been the marathon's finish line, scores of them shivering in the
cold Sunday morning and collecting donations for Sandy victims.
Meanwhile,
tight gasoline supplies have in the last few days tested the patience
of drivers, with fistfights breaking out in mile-long lines of cars.
But a reopened New York Harbor meant fuel was reaching terminals,
even as major facilities remained idle.
Portable
generators were requested for 120 gasoline stations without power,
said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York.
2.7M
without power; Sandy death toll 113
4
November, 2012
Life
was returning to normal in parts of New York and New Jersey, five
days after Hurricane Sandy hit, but other areas were dark and
isolated, authorities said.
About
2.7 million customers in 15 states and the District of Columbia were
without power Saturday, with at least some facing perhaps another
week before it is restored, CNN reported.
The
U.S. death toll from Hurricane Sandy rose Saturday, reaching 113, the
Los Angeles Times reported, up from 97 Friday. The newspaper said 48
of the deaths were in New York, followed by New Jersey with 24,
Pennsylvania 14, Maryland 11, West Virginia seven and Connecticut
four, North Carolina two, Virginia two and New Hampshire one.
Residents
of many beach towns on the South Shore of Long Island were waiting
for power to be restored, and even for some sign someone was in
charge, The New York Times reported. Vikki Quinn's house in Long
Beach was flooded and her possessions were piled in the yard.
"I
just keep waiting for someone with a megaphone and a car to just tell
us what to do," she told the Times. "I'm lost."
President
Barack Obama convened a meeting of top emergency officials in
Washington, with Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Andrew Cuomo of
New York and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut joining by telephone.
White
House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters members of
the Cabinet reported on their meetings with local officials, first
responders and citizens, and the president spoke individually during
the meeting with the governors and local officials, asking whether
there are "additional federal resources that could be brought to
bear to meet some of the needs in their communities."
Earnest
said the president also got a briefing from the National Weather
Service on a storm forecast to reach the U.S. Northeast Wednesday.
Forecasters said the system could come with high winds, substantial
rainfall and perhaps cooler temperatures.
Lights
were back on Saturday in most of Manhattan. Subway trains began
running between Manhattan and the Long Island boroughs of Brooklyn
and Queens for the first time since the storm flooded the tunnels
under the East River, the Times said.
Cuomo
said about 60 percent of those in New York who lost power had it back
by Saturday. On Long Island, however, more than half of the 1.2
million homes and businesses affected by the storm were still in the
dark.
"We
are getting through it," Cuomo said at a news briefing. "The
worst is behind us."
Gas
remained in short supply. Cuomo said 8 million gallons had been
delivered, with 28 million more expected from commercial sources and
12 million from the Defense Department.
Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials were to
visit some of the worst-hit areas.
New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday announced the opening of the
first of several disaster assistance service centers that will
provide information about applying for emergency social and economic
benefits. All of the centers will be operated by the city's Human
Resources Administration in cooperation with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and will be open seven days a week.
As
of Friday afternoon, more than 98,000 people in New Jersey, New York
and Connecticut had registered for federal assistance and more than
$40 million in aid has been approved, a statement by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency said.
New
York City inspectors are posting color-coded placards on buildings
and homes to warn people not to enter some buildings.
"Let
me just reiterate what a red placard means: It is not a demolition
order; if you read carefully what's written on it, it says it's not a
demolition order. It is an order not to enter for your safety,"
Bloomberg said.
"A
yellow placard requires you to have a safety inspection before
entering. And I also want to emphasize that's just because water may
be out of the basement doesn't mean that it's safe to turn on
electricity, or a boiler, or a generator to power your home. It
really is a significant fire risk to do so.
"One
of the things that struck me was people kept thinking that if a
generator miraculously showed up in the neighborhood all would be OK.
That's just not the case. When all of the wiring is covered with
water, salt water in particular, you have to do a lot of work before
you can re-energize those lines. And so we've already seen some cases
where when electricity was turned on there were fires and we lost
some other houses. We want to make sure that does not happen."
The
number of residences and businesses without power as of Friday night
was 95,000 in Manhattan; 26,000 in the Bronx; 34,000 in Brooklyn;
84,000 in Queens and 48,000 in Staten Island, the New York Daily News
reported.
"Two
networks in Lower Manhattan will take a little longer to bring back
online," Bloomberg said. "However, even with crews working
around the clock, it's going to take a lot longer to bring power back
to areas that are served by overhead power lines -- and that includes
the Long Island Power Authority's more than 30,000 customers on the
Rockaways."
In
New Jersey, Christie allowed Atlantic City casinos to reopen Friday.
Some did, and others said they would open during the weekend.
New
Jersey Transit began running trains on the Northeast Corridor between
Trenton and New York and said most buses were running again by
Saturday morning. Other rail lines remained shut down.
New
York City has 13 food distribution sites opened, staffed by National
Guard members, New York City Service volunteers and by the staff of
the Salvation Army. Since Thursday, they distributed about 290,000
meals and nearly a half-million bottles of water, Bloomberg said.
"Goldman
Sachs, through its urban investment group, will match the $5 million
New York City is providing in funding for small businesses affected
by the hurricane," Bloomberg said. "These funds will be
loaned to businesses in Zone A and other areas where there have been
power outages and severe flooding.
Businesses
had contributed more than $33 million in donations to Sandy relief as
of early Friday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civil
Leadership Center told CNNMoney.
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