Exasperation builds on Day 3 in storm-stricken NYC

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MEGHAN BARR and LEANNE ITALIE

NEW YORK (AP) - Frustration - and in some cases fear - mounted in New York City on Thursday, three days after Superstorm Sandy. Traffic backed up for miles at bridges, large crowds waited impatiently for buses into Manhattan, and tempers flared in gas lines.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would send bottled water and ready-to-eat meals into the hardest-hit neighborhoods through the weekend, but some New Yorkers grew dispirited after days without power, water and heat and decided to get out.

"It's dirty, and it's getting a little crazy down there," said Michael Tomeo, who boarded a bus to Philadelphia with his 4-year-old son. "It just feels like you wouldn't want to be out at night. Everything's pitch dark. I'm tired of it, big-time."

Rima Finzi-Strauss decided to take bus to Washington. When the power went out Monday night in her apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, it also disabled the electric locks on the front door, she said.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121101/DA29GGPO1.html

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A long line of people wait for free distribution of dry ice in Union Square in the still powerless Chelsea section of Manhattan,Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, in New York. Three days after superstorm Sandy walloped the city, residents and commuters still faced obstacles as they tried to return to pre-storm routines. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

[wordpix]

1. didn't R$'s $5000 in photo-op donated goods get there yet?

seriously, though, NYC should be better prepared than this 11 yrs. after 9-11.

[Mojorabbit]

2. It will probably get worse before it gets better

It is why everyone should have a week's worth of staples so that emergency officials won't be overwhelmed trying to meet some basic needs. My heart
goes out to them.

[progressivebydesign]

3. Terrible, but to be expected. Americans are unrealistic sometimes. It was a MAJOR storm

things will be bad for while. No matter how hard everyone works to return to normal, it doesn't happen in a few days, sadly. I think the problem is trying to return to familiar routines before everything is closer to being normal. People are trying to commute, etc., and it's just not realistic for many people. This was an historic storm, that has not been seen in my lifetime... and it hit such a populous and hard to navigate place even when there is no storm.

I think even the people who are living this in New York, are being overly optimistic about returning to normal and that is causing a lot of problems. I wish the employers would just tell people to stay home until Monday, with pay (or perhaps a streamlined unemployment claim process for the days missed. Is that possible?)

But you HAVE to love the Japanese people. After their horrific disaster recently, there was NO anger, no bitching, they understood that everyone was doing the best they can. America and the media here seems to be an outrage machine. It's only been a few days... it will take time.

[Arctic Dave]

5. Well said. n/t

[gateley]

6. We are so used to having everything at hand and getting a problem resolved quickly.

We lose it when our Internet service goes down. We really don't know how to deal with situations like this.

[susanwy]

8. You are so right!

I love NY, but come on people, this was a big storm! I have no doubt that utility crews, relief agencies and first responders are doing all they can to get everything up and running. Lets follow the model of the Japanese....and not forget that this storm hit Haiti and the Caribbean hard too!

[Surya Gayatri]

13. It's no surprise that Americans are often viewed as over-grown, spoiled

children by much of the rest of the world.

Childish behavior is defined by demand for instant gratification and low tolerance for delayed reward.

As a people, the Japanese tend to demonstrate adult reactions when faced with adversity.

They are inculcated with the more mature mentality of "Survival of society over satisfaction of the individual."

[slackmaster]

21. I'd attribute the unrealistic expectations to living in a city all of one's life...

...and never learning how to cope with surviving in the wilderness.

I'm an American as well, and am accustomed to being in the dark at night and not having electricity or running water. It's not difficult to prepare for a few days without power.

Unfortunately, a lot of people grow up in cities now and never have the experience of camping.

This was an historic storm, that has not been seen in my lifetime...

Several disasters of greater magnitude have happened within your lifetime. You've seen them all on TV and in the newspapers. Perhaps you had not yet realized that a widespread disruption of infrastructure could happen to you.

[elfin]

4. Our instant gratification culture evident

Never mind the way in advance warnings - "I want my connected life back NOW " along with fully stocked groceries etc.

Full sympathy here, but also despair at the low info populace and the expectation that huge problems can be solved immediately.

Also evident in the incomprehension of the magnitude of the problems facing Obama and the expectation that he could solve everything instantly to their satisfaction despite the horrific conditions and the powerful obstructions in his path laid by the repugs.

[onenote]

9. I'm sympathetic too.

I have family in the one of the hard hit areas. But its been three days. Last June, the Derecho ripped through the DC/Baltimore area. THere were thousands of people who didn't get power restored for more than a week, at a time when temperatures were in the upper 90s. No two situations are the same, but people do sometimes seem to have minimal appreciation of the difficulty in fixing massive destruction.

[jtuck004]

14. Power outages, destruction and death are pretty much a way of life in Oklahoma,

Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Missouri from tornadoes - they deal with this every year, never on this scale, and it still takes a couple weeks, even with crews from other states pouring in.

This is much more widespread, spotty. More left than there was after a tornado cleared a half-mile wide swath through a populated suburb o OKC, but that's just an illusion. Many of these homes and buildings people are still in are complete losses, they just don't know it yet.

It may not be the last one, either. I wonder if they will just perch them all back up there on that tee for the next shot?

[Carol Lynn]

7. subway damage

I've been reading some updates on Lower Manhattan's subways, and it looks like getting them drained, inspected, repaired could take months. Deep breaths everyone . . . we are in this for a while.

[NYC Liberal]

10. Doesn't help that they're still holding the damn marathon.

That IS inexcusable.

[BeyondGeography]

12. No shit

[jtuck004]

11. NYU hospital is dark but Goldman Sachs is well-lit. Thank goodness Mr. Charlie ok.

As predicted, we put more effort into saving his house than he did.

[mylegsareswollen]

15. Turning into Obamas Katrina

He needs to nip this now. Military trucks should be flowing in non stop.

[NutmegYankee]

18. LOL. People moaning about no power does not equal Katrina.

I've been out of power for a week. You bitch and moan. It's normal.

[Ineeda]

23. Ha. Obama's Katrina. It's that only if people like you

and Faux News make it so. Perhaps you should go stir the sh*t somewhere else.

[Dash87]

25. What!?

1000s died in Katrina, and people were raping or killing each other daily. The two can't even be close to compared.

The National Guard is deployed to NYC. This is all to be expected after a major disaster.

[Jazzgirl]

26. Not even close.

Try again or as someone else suggested, someplace else.

[geek tragedy]

29. Obvious Republican troll is obvious. nt

[markpkessinger]

16. The frustration is understandable . . .

. . . but the anger is misplaced.

[Matariki]

17. Wow. Like being a paycheck away from homelessness...

We seem to be a nation that's a disaster away from third world status. We really need to be spending money on modernizing our infrastructure.

[Katashi_itto]

19. Obviously as an Inhabitant of New Orleans. I would say why are they even rebuilding?

Its obvious they are prone to Hurricanes and being an Island. Even more vulnerable.

No rebuilding!








God that was something that truly annoyed me when the Repukes started that meme about NOLA.

[brooklynite]

20. Power should be on tomorrow

...per Con Ed

[fingrinn]

22. kind of feel for you guys

After the EQ last year that killed 183 people in my home town we were without power for 13 days, got really sick of BBQ meals
and i had to walk 3 kms for fresh water. Hang in there, knowing soon thing will get back to normal.

[mikeytherat]

24. After Gaston here in central Virginia, I was without power for 27 days.

mikey_the_rat

[treestar]

27. There a many people there and many opinions

So why do they choose - Michael Tomeo? Why did they choose his opinion to feature? He was probably surrounded by many others.

[tavernier]

28. It took us YEARS to get back to normal after Andrew

Am I wrong, or did this storm not just hit less than a WEEK AGO???

This extreme impatience for instant complete recovery couldn't possibly be politically motivated, could it?

[adigal]

30. But we must still have the marathon!

Bodies and power outages, be damned!

[fingrinn]

31. They need to harden up

Try surviving an 7.1 EQ that killed 183 people and having no power or water for 13 days, you learn to survive pretty quickly and realize whats important.

[Phoonzang]

32. Yeah well...wait until this happens.