Two Weeks After Sandy, Tens Of Thousands Still Without Power On L.I.
November 12, 2012 1:44 PM
A worker repairs electrical lines as Long Islanders continue their clean up efforts in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy on November 9, 2012 in Plainview, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Tens of thousands of people are still in the dark on Long Island two weeks after Superstorm Sandy slammed the region.
The Long Island Power Authority reported about 64,000 outages Monday morning. Nearly 43,000 of those customers are in Nassau County.
EXTRA: Latest Power Outage Information
As outages enter their third week, LIPA said it has dropped its policy that forces customers to get an inspection before their power is restored.
1010 WINS’ Glenn Schuck reports
The utility’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Hervey said customers no longer need to wait for an official utility assessor. Instead, an electrician can start the work.
“That should help those homes get power more quickly and one less step for the homeowners,” said Hervey.
But some residents say that’s not enough.
“We sleep with insulated underwear, sweatpants, sweatshirts and three quilt covers,” said Marilyn Cashdan from Baldwin Harbor. ”No one cares about us.”
Judy Blanco is being told that it could be two more weeks before power returns to her condo in Island Park.
“I cry every morning,” Blanco told 1010 WINS’ Glenn Schuck. “I feel like I live in a middle to upper class community that is being completely ignored.”
With each passing day without power desperation is growing.
Margarite Hunt told CBS 2′s Wejia Jiang that she sleeps with rifles and knives at night, fearful looters will break into her Levittown home.
“In the dark they’re robbing around the corner and I cannot leave my house,” Hunt said. “We’re in the dark over here. We have kids, I have to protect my family.”
WCBS 880′s Sean Adams reports
“I’m freezing to death. It’s just impossible to live,” Diane Micelli told Jiang.
Residents held rallies all weekend despite the news that LIPA lifted its controversial rules to speed up restoration.
But many doubt cutting the red tape will make a difference.
“We had our green ticket inspection on the front door of our home. They promised they would turn on the power as soon as we did that,” said Baldwin Harbor resident Tyler Baram. “Nothing has happened still. People need power. It’s sad.”
Politicians promise once all the power is back on, they’ll hold a series of hearings that could hold LIPA’s leaders accountable.
“This is an absolute disgrace,” Long Island Rep. Peter King told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “This really has reached crisis proportions of a public health dimension in Nassau County, in Suffolk County and on the south shore.”
The utility said it expects 99 percent of its customers to be restored by Tuesday.
“This type of communication, this type of cooperation, really should’ve been a lot earlier here,” Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said. “It’s really resulted in anger and outrage.”
“They need to help us, we can’t live like this,” one resident told Jiang. “Please come and help us. Please.”
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http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/12/two-weeks-after-sandy-tens-of-thousands-still-without-power-on-l-i/
The loss of power might be an eventual death sentence for those of ill health or for the aging or for those without financial resources to survive something like this. So, companies being inefficient transfers into increasing ill health and deaths in the Northeast as temperatures drop.
Also, I was listening on CNN how many subways are not open yet. So, I think about 80 to 90% of them are now open. However, he said that bus service now takes care of this problem. Also, for some reason air travel into and out of all New York Airports is also very problematic and I wasn't entirely sure why this is the case still? The commentator said that many many flights now coming in and going out from La Guardia and other Airports to New York city are being cancelled or delayed so this is extremely problematic for people flying into or out of the area. He also was saying even flying to nearby Airports to New York is also a problem because they are so overbooked already both into and out of the area. And I wasn't able to fully understand why this is the case either. One reason I could think of is that Gas powered Generators burn up a lot of gas and so there isn't gas to transport people on taxis like there would be in other times. That's just my thought on the problem as more gasoline is shipped into the area to local gas stations.
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