Tempers rise as gas, power hit by superstorm
Source: Agencies |
November 3, 2012, Saturday
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FOUR days after superstorm Sandy smashed into the US Northeast, rescuers yesterday were still discovering the extent of the death and devastation in New York and the New Jersey shore even as anger mounted over gasoline shortages, power outages and waits for relief supplies.
The total killed in one of the biggest storms to hit the United States jumped by a third on Thursday to 98. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them in Staten Island, which was overrun by a wall of water on Monday.
Among the dead in Staten Island were two brothers, aged two and four, who were swept from their mother's arms after her car stalled in rising floodwaters. Their bodies were found near each other in a marshy area on Thursday.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino were to visit Staten Island later yesterday amid angry claims by some survivors that the borough had been ignored.
Scenes of angry storm victims could complicate matters for politicians, from President Barack Obama just four days before the general election, to governors and mayors in the most heavily populated region in the United States. Obama so far has received praise for his handling of Sandy.
"They forgot about us," said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been "annihilated." "And (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on!"
Citing the boost it brings to the city's economy, New York Mayor Bloomberg decided to hold the world's largest marathon tomorrow, as scheduled.
Adding to heated tempers, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut drivers were also confronting a shortage of gasoline. Even before dawn yesterday, long lines of cars snaked around gasoline stations around the area, and police were in place at many spots to keep the peace between furious, frustrated drivers.
In one instance, a man was charged in the New York City borough of Queens with threatening another driver with a gun after he tried to cut in on a line of cars waiting for gas. Forecasts for colder temperatures only added to the tension, since many in New Jersey and elsewhere have been using fuel-powered generators to run lights and heaters while waiting for utilities to repair downed power lines.
At a Hess Station late on Thursday night in Fairfield, New Jersey, people waited more than three hours to fill up their cars and gas cans. Four police officers directed traffic.
"This is a pretty apocalyptic situation. How far do we have to go to get gas - Tennessee?" said Ricardo Meehleib, 30, as he waited in line.
While power was expected to be returned throughout Manhattan by today, it could be another week or more in suburbs and more distant towns along the coast. About 4.5 million homes and businesses in 15 US states remain without power. Fury has been escalating throughout New York at Bloomberg's decision to proceed with the marathon tomorrow, vowing the event, which attracts more than 40,000 runners, would not divert any resources storm victims.
"If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream," New York City Councilman James Oddo said on his Twitter account.
Staten Island, which lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan, is home to about 500,000 residents, many blue-collar workers whose families have lived there for generations. In New Jersey, where at least 13 people were killed, entire neighborhoods in oceanside towns were swallowed by seawater and much of the Atlantic City boardwalk was destroyed.
Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated superstorm Sandy caused up to US$20 billion in insured losses and US$50 billion in economic losses, double its previous forecast.
The total killed in one of the biggest storms to hit the United States jumped by a third on Thursday to 98. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them in Staten Island, which was overrun by a wall of water on Monday.
Among the dead in Staten Island were two brothers, aged two and four, who were swept from their mother's arms after her car stalled in rising floodwaters. Their bodies were found near each other in a marshy area on Thursday.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino were to visit Staten Island later yesterday amid angry claims by some survivors that the borough had been ignored.
Scenes of angry storm victims could complicate matters for politicians, from President Barack Obama just four days before the general election, to governors and mayors in the most heavily populated region in the United States. Obama so far has received praise for his handling of Sandy.
"They forgot about us," said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been "annihilated." "And (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on!"
Citing the boost it brings to the city's economy, New York Mayor Bloomberg decided to hold the world's largest marathon tomorrow, as scheduled.
Adding to heated tempers, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut drivers were also confronting a shortage of gasoline. Even before dawn yesterday, long lines of cars snaked around gasoline stations around the area, and police were in place at many spots to keep the peace between furious, frustrated drivers.
In one instance, a man was charged in the New York City borough of Queens with threatening another driver with a gun after he tried to cut in on a line of cars waiting for gas. Forecasts for colder temperatures only added to the tension, since many in New Jersey and elsewhere have been using fuel-powered generators to run lights and heaters while waiting for utilities to repair downed power lines.
At a Hess Station late on Thursday night in Fairfield, New Jersey, people waited more than three hours to fill up their cars and gas cans. Four police officers directed traffic.
"This is a pretty apocalyptic situation. How far do we have to go to get gas - Tennessee?" said Ricardo Meehleib, 30, as he waited in line.
While power was expected to be returned throughout Manhattan by today, it could be another week or more in suburbs and more distant towns along the coast. About 4.5 million homes and businesses in 15 US states remain without power. Fury has been escalating throughout New York at Bloomberg's decision to proceed with the marathon tomorrow, vowing the event, which attracts more than 40,000 runners, would not divert any resources storm victims.
"If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream," New York City Councilman James Oddo said on his Twitter account.
Staten Island, which lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan, is home to about 500,000 residents, many blue-collar workers whose families have lived there for generations. In New Jersey, where at least 13 people were killed, entire neighborhoods in oceanside towns were swallowed by seawater and much of the Atlantic City boardwalk was destroyed.
Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated superstorm Sandy caused up to US$20 billion in insured losses and US$50 billion in economic losses, double its previous forecast.
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