"Hurricane’s wide reach causes havoc for millions" by James Barron | New York Times, October 30, 2012
NEW YORK — Hurricane Sandy battered the mid-Atlantic region Monday, its powerful gusts and storm surges causing once-in-a-generation flooding in coastal communities, knocking down trees and power lines and leaving hundreds of thousands of people — including a large swath of Manhattan — in the rain-soaked dark.
The mammoth and merciless storm made landfall near Atlantic City around 8 p.m., with maximum sustained winds of about 80 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. That was shortly after the center had reclassified the storm as a post-tropical cyclone, a scientific renaming that had no bearing on the powerful winds, driving rains, and life-threatening storm surge expected to accompany its push onto land.
The storm had unexpectedly picked up speed as it roared over the Atlantic Ocean on a slate-gray day and went on to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states, with extensive evacuations that turned shorefront neighborhoods into ghost towns....
Businesses and schools were closed; roads, bridges, and tunnels were closed; and more than 13,000 airline flights were canceled. Even the Erie Canal was shut down....
In Manhattan, a construction crane atop one of the tallest buildings in the city came loose and dangled 80 stories over West 57th Street, across the street from Carnegie Hall....
Subways were shut down from Boston to Washington, as were Amtrak and the commuter rail lines....
Also see:
Forecasters attributed the power of the storm to a convergence of weather systems. As the hurricane swirled north in the Atlantic and then pivoted toward land, a wintry storm was heading toward it from the west, and cold air was blowing south from the Arctic....
Related: Effects of climate change increase risk of storms’ impacts
Pffft!
--more--"
Related:
Sandy slams Mass., hundreds of thousands lose power
South Coast of Mass. faces ‘greatest disruption’
Storms of past help Scituate cope with Sandy
Many on Cape defy Hurricane Sandy advisories
Bay State was awash with excitement
Boston escapes major damage from Sandy
15 rescued, captain missing from Bounty replica
Bounty captain visualized ship as a ‘living classroom’
Retailers may be hardest hit by Sandy
Please don't blame economic problems on the storm. Anything but the damn banks, right?
Sandy will rack up claims for insurers
Insurers ready for a flood of storm claims
Hurricane solidarity won’t last long
President Obama aims for FEMA action
He's going to get a lot of praise early; however, it will be for you to decide if it was deserved.
"Could hurt Obama.... the storm could cost Obama.... Anything that depresses turnout is bad for the president, but any time he is leading as commander in chief, that’s good for the president. The federal response to the storm could provide a late-campaign talking point for Obama."
"Record flooding, power outages cripple New York City" by Ted Anthony | Associated Press, October 30, 2012
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The most devastating storm in decades to hit the country’s most densely populated region upended man and nature as it rolled back the clock on 21st-century lives, cutting off modern communication and leaving millions without power Tuesday as thousands who fled their water-menaced homes wondered when — if — life would return to normal.
A weakening Sandy, the hurricane turned fearsome superstorm, killed at least 50 people, many hit by falling trees, and still wasn’t finished. It inched inland across Pennsylvania, ready to bank toward western New York to dump more of its water and likely cause more havoc Tuesday night. Behind it: a dazed, inundated New York City, a waterlogged Atlantic Coast and a moonscape of disarray and debris — from unmoored shore-town boardwalks to submerged mass-transit systems to delicate presidential politics....
The scope of the storm’s damage wasn’t known yet. Though early predictions of river flooding in Sandy’s inland path were petering out, colder temperatures made snow the main product of Sandy’s slow march from the sea. Parts of the West Virginia mountains were blanketed with 2 feet of snow by Tuesday afternoon, and drifts 4 feet deep were reported at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border....
--more--"
Related: Sandy’s force leaves millions across East Coast reeling
I posted the link because the Globe's web version gave you the NYT take.
"Overall, damage was relatively modest, and state officials
As I reported above.
Also see: "
Utilities speed up response to storm
With power back for most, Norwell counts blessings
Utility companies up their game for Sandy
Man held in fatal stabbing during hurricane
New York struggles back 2 days after killer storm
Big tests ahead for New York City subway
As long as people aren't being pushed to their deaths its fine.
Cooler temperatures expected this weekend
Power expected to be fully restored
Philly to Boston, door to door, after Hurricane Sandy: $750
Boston could be vulnerable to more severe storms
N.J. confronts how to rebuild its shore
Will hurricane hurt holiday retail sales?
Any excuse to explain the Grand Depression and coming economic collapse.
"Long lines, gas shortages bedevil N.Y., N.J.; Death toll and estimated cost of storm mount" by Kate Zernike | New York Times, November 02, 2012
UNION, N.J. — Widespread gas shortages stirred fears among residents and disrupted some rescue and emergency services Thursday as the New York region struggled to return to a semblance of normalcy after being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Something that will motivate your average citizen into demonstration. Threaten their gas, beer, or football and you have trouble on your hands. Wars and looting banks, not so much.
Tiny increments of progress — some subway and bus lines were back in service — were overshadowed by new estimates of the storm’s financial cost, struggles to restore power, and by the discovery of more bodies in flooded communities....
Abhishek Soni, the owner of an Exxon in Montclair, N.J., where disputes in the line Wednesday night had become so heated that Soni called the police and turned off the pumps for 45 minutes to restore calm. ‘‘My nose, my mouth is bleeding from the fumes. The fighting just makes it worse.’’
Fighting over fuel. Looking more and more like a third-world country all the time.
Four days after Hurricane Sandy, the effort to secure enough gas for the region moved to the forefront of recovery work....
--more--"
"New Yorkers impatient with pace of recovery; Residents’ anger prompts mayor to halt marathon" by Christine Hauser and Kate Zernike | New York Times, November 03, 2012
NEW YORK — Patience wore thin over gas shortages, power failures, and long lines for everything from buses to food handouts on Friday, as many parts of the New York City region struggled to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg decided Friday afternoon to cancel the New York City Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, amid a growing backlash from residents and local politicians angered at the intent of staging a race when many New Yorkers are still dealing with severe hardships....
Government officials have asked for patience.
I'm sorry, but the American people are out of patience when they are having austerity shoved down their throats while banks, war-profiteers, and corporations benefit.
City departments tried to stave off the anger by opening help lines, handing out free meals, updating citizens with progress in restoring services, and monitoring Twitter feeds, where they answered residents directly about their individual commutes. Fees were waived for bus and subway travel.
Amid the continuing grief and hardship, Bloomberg announced Friday that the death toll in the city had risen to at least 41.
But there were some positive signs:
I'm so sick of the mouthpiece media putting perfume and lipstick on a pig (no offense to pigs).
**************
In New Jersey, drivers waited in lines that ran hundreds of vehicles deep, requiring state troopers and local police officers to protect against exploding tempers. Some ran out of gas waiting.
This after Christie heaped praise on Obama for the response.
--more--"
Related: Cold threatens victims left homeless by Sandy
And it wasn't even winter yet.
Storm recovery apt to lift construction industry
Retail supply chain suffers as holidays approach
Sandy made $ome winner$ and $ome lo$er$, huh?
"Students Head Back to School, While Transit Remains Hobbled" by CHRISTINE HAUSER, November 5, 2012
Students were told to dress warmly as they trickled back to chilly classrooms on Monday, and many trains and buses were rolling again. But a week after Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the region, the return to work and school was still a challenge as the New York City area struggled to recover.
Long lines at bus stops, impossibly packed trains and padlocked
platforms attested to the difficulties of the first Monday commute with a
public transit system still hobbled from the storm, particularly in the
suburbs on Long Island and in New Jersey.
Making matters worse, officials warned that persistent gas shortages would swell the number of people vying for what mass transportation was available. The morning was filled with reports of commuters left standing as suburban trains and buses filled to capacity passed them by.
Many children in New York City returned to schools that had no heat, and others had to adjust to different schedules and new ways of getting to school because the places they had attended were still too damaged to open. School districts across the region also reopened, but many remained closed and were not scheduled to reopen until next Monday....
--more--"
Making matters worse, officials warned that persistent gas shortages would swell the number of people vying for what mass transportation was available. The morning was filled with reports of commuters left standing as suburban trains and buses filled to capacity passed them by.
Many children in New York City returned to schools that had no heat, and others had to adjust to different schedules and new ways of getting to school because the places they had attended were still too damaged to open. School districts across the region also reopened, but many remained closed and were not scheduled to reopen until next Monday....
--more--"
Related: Normalcy cruelly eludes New York, commuters
That was a NYT substitute that appeared on the Globe's web version.
Also see:
Some in NYC not willing to flee new storm
Nor’easter downgraded, could still snarl hurricane cleanup
Nor’easter slams N.Y. and N.J. areas hit by Sandy
Snow before winter -- again?
"Costs from Sandy possibly $33b, N.Y. governor warns; State also faces huge cleanup job from nor’easter" by Colleen Long and Frank Eltman | Associated Press, November 09, 2012
NEW YORK — A damage estimate of even $50 billion total would make Sandy the second most expensive storm in US history....
After tight gasoline supplies led to long lines and frustration at filling stations, officials in the city and on Long Island said Thursday that rationing will be implemented starting Friday. Drivers will alternate days they can fill up, based on whether their license plates end in an odd or even number.
Takes me back to the early 1970s! Amazing how the gas shortage has been undersold by my mouthpiece media, huh?
On Thursday, a nor’easter that stymied recovery efforts from Sandy left New York and New Jersey, leaving hundreds of thousands of new people in darkness but failing to swamp shorelines anew, as feared.
Residents from Connecticut to Rhode Island saw 3 to 6 inches of snow Wednesday. Worcester, Mass., had 8 inches of snow, and Freehold, N.J., had more than a foot. Some parts of Connecticut got a foot or more....
Can you see why I'm fed up with the endle$$, agenda-pu$hing fart mist?
--more--"
Related:
Coastal cities study steeling against storms
Climate change will spawn a succession of ever-more-violent Sandys
And who remembers Hurricane Ike, huh? It's the lies you never forget.
Delays in power restoration after storm anger some
The lack of power restoration for a relative few in the densely populated region at the heart of the storm reinforced Sandy’s fractured effect on the area: tragic and vicious to some, merely a nuisance to others.
The wealthy sections are back to normal.
"Long Islanders fumed over the cold and the darkness and complained they could not get answers from the Long Island Power Authority."
Of course, the election is over and the conventional wisdom decreed that Obama responded well.
Faulty Staten Island evacuation plans leave 7 dead
Storm-damaged homes to be razed
Gas rationing extended through week in NYC
That makes three weeks at least, and not much attention.
‘‘No one should eat alone on Thanksgiving.’’
NYC storm victims’ homes looted over Thanksgiving
Not the kind of guests they were expecting.
Storm-ravaged landscape in NYC gives up dead bodies
NYC urged to act to block future storm surges
Cuomo travels to Washington to make case for storm aid
Fire damages 12 homes on NJ shore hit by storm
The one small bit of good news was that because most of the homes had already been damaged by the storm, they were not occupied when the fire broke out, and no one was injured."
As long as it wasn't your property, right?
Democrats: Obama to ask for $50 billion Sandy aid
Two parties at odds over Sandy relief
Because it is something you need, American taxpayers and citizens.
Crowd-funding draws donations for Sandy relief
Once again the generous American people fill the role of government.
Hurricane Sandy’s impact on EPA sites unclear
Great, more toxins and poisons released into the environment.
Hurricane Sandy hero dies in surfing accident
N.J. inland towns seek post-Sandy fix
On Plum Island, another punishing storm
So what biowarfare germs were released?
Still waiting on that aid:
"Stalled Sandy aid infuriates Northeastern Republicans" by Raymond Hernandez | New York Times, January 03, 2013
WASHINGTON — Northeastern Republicans, long outnumbered and overshadowed in their own party nationally, erupted in fury on Wednesday after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives blocked a measure that sought to provide billions of dollars in aid to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and other states pummeled by Hurricane Sandy.
The depth of the anger was extraordinary and exceedingly personal, with one Republican after another venting their outrage at one man in particular, Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, who quietly moved to keep the bill from coming to the floor early Wednesday morning....
The anger that surfaced Wednesday seemed to come as a bit of a shock to Boehner, who quickly sought to contain any political fallout. After meeting with Republican lawmakers from the storm-battered region, Boehner pledged to bring a $9 billion relief package to the floor on Friday and a $51 billion package on Jan 15.
‘‘Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress,’’ Boehner said in a statement that he released with Representative Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader in the House. ‘‘That was reaffirmed today with members of the New York and New Jersey delegations.’’
But it was unclear whether Boehner could undo the damage he had done.
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, a potential Republican presidential contender in 2016, said Boehner had refused to take his calls on Tuesday night and accused the House leadership of duplicity and selfishness, saying the inaction ‘‘is why the American people hate Congress.’’
One reason among many.
After finally getting through to Boehner on Wednesday morning, Christie expressed doubt in the speaker’s word in his characteristically blunt way.
‘‘I’m not going to get into the specifics of what I discussed with John Boehner today,’’ he told reporters in New Jersey. ‘‘But what I will tell you is there is no reason at the moment for me to believe anything they tell me.’’
Christie has come around!
**********************
Last week, a $60.4 billion aid package was passed in the Democratic-led Senate, far friendlier political terrain for the region, where Charles E. Schumer, New York’s senior senator, is part of the leadership and helped push the package through. Top House Republicans had indicated that they were moving toward a vote on the package Tuesday night.
But Boehner had angered many leading conservatives in his caucus by bringing to the floor a Senate-approved tax bill that did not contain sufficient spending cuts to bring the nation’s debt under control. After that bill passed in the House, with significant Democratic support, he was in no mood to further alienate conservatives in his caucus by forcing them to vote on a disaster aid bill that would add to the deficit on the eve of a vote on whether to continue his speakership.
Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, suggested that the aid request was harmed by its size.
“Sometimes when you ask for too much, you don’t get anything,’’ Blunt told CNN....
Unless you are Israel or the Pentagon.
--more--"
And about those debts:
New Congress faces old fiscal issues
There is little doubt that fiscal issues are at the forefront, and now the newly enfranchised Congress will begin by raising deficits. National flood insurance legislation to help victims of Hurricane Sandy will create slightly more than $9 billion in red ink if it passes as expected on Friday. A follow-up disaster aid measure that Boehner has said will be brought to a vote on Jan. 15 would add $27 billion — more if the bill grows, as seems likely, after it is reconciled with a $60-billion Senate version.
Also see: Congress opens to host of fiscal ills
Another NYT web substitute.
Chances slim for birds swept in by storm
Homeowners question the use of storm models
Congress OK’s $9.7b in Sandy insurance aid
Obama signs bill for Sandy flood insurance claims
Coast Guard to probe loss of tall ship in hurricane
And what is in that aid package?
"Sandy relief bill faces ‘not-so-fast’ criticism" by Andrew Miga | Associated Press, January 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — Conservatives and watchdog groups are mounting a ‘‘not-so-fast’’ campaign against a $50.7 billion Hurricane Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this week.
Their complaint is that lots of the money that lawmakers are considering will actually go toward recovery efforts for past disasters and other projects unrelated to the late-October storm.
A Senate-passed version from the end of the last Congress had $150 million for what the Commerce Department described as fisheries disasters in Alaska, Mississippi, and the Northeast, and $50 million in subsidies to put trees on private land damaged by wildfires.
The objections have led senior House Republicans to assemble a $17 billion proposal that, when combined with already approved money for flood insurance claims, is less than half the amount President Obama sought and the Senate passed in December.
That $17 billion package will be brought to the floor by the House Appropriations Committee, and Northeastern lawmakers will have a chance to add $33.7 billion more.
House Speaker John Boehner plans to let the House vote on both measures. He is responding both to conservatives opposed to more deficit spending, and to Governor Andrew Cuomo, a New York Democrat, and Governor Chris Christie, a New Jersey Republican, who both are irate that the House has not acted sooner.
Critics are taking the sharpest aim at $12.1 billion in the amendment for Department of Housing and Urban Development emergency block grants.
Any state struck by a federally declared major disaster in 2011, 2012, or this year would qualify for the grants, and that is just about all the states, said Stephen Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. Only South Carolina, Arizona, and Michigan would not qualify, he said.
‘‘That’s not a bad chunk of change, particularly if you are trying to get other lawmakers to vote for the bill,’’ Ellis said.
State and local governments like block grants because they provide more flexibility in how the money is spent. The money can go toward a variety of needs, including hospitals, utilities, roads, small businesses, and rent subsidies.
The Northeastern lawmakers’ $33.7 billion amendment also includes about $135 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to seek improvements in weather forecasting.
Before getting to the aid measures, the House on Monday plans to consider legislation intended to streamline Federal Emergency Management Agency rules that critics blame for slowing down recovery efforts. That bill would let FEMA make limited repairs rather than lease payments for housing that might be less expensive than agency trailers.
A $60.4 billion storm aid package passed by the Senate in December included $188 million for an Amtrak expansion project with an indirect link to Sandy: Officials say that new, long-planned tunnels from New Jersey to Penn Station in Manhattan would be better protected against flooding.
--more--"
Related: Conservatives try to cut Sandy aid
"Sandy roared through several states in October and has been blamed for 140 deaths and billions of dollars in damage, much of it in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut."
“You don’t turn your back on people who are suffering -- you don’t turn your back on Americans.”
I don't know what country he is talking about, but it isn't AmeriKa.
And finally:
"$50.5b hurricane relief package reaches Obama; Senate passes bill despite GOP debt concerns" by Andrew Miga | Associated Press, January 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — Three months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged coastal areas in much of the Northeast, Congress on Monday sent a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for storm victims to President Obama for his signature.
‘‘I commend Congress for giving families and businesses the help they deserve, and I will sign this bill into law as soon as it hits my desk,’’ Obama said in a statement late Monday.
Despite opposition from conservatives concerned about adding billions of dollars more to the nation’s debt, the Senate cleared the long-delayed bill, 62 to 36, after House Republicans had stripped it earlier this month of some spending unrelated to disasters. All 36 votes against the bill were from Republican senators.
‘‘This is a huge relief,’’ said Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, noting the vote came 91 days after Sandy struck. ‘‘We are now just a presidential pen-stroke away from beginning the rebuilding process in earnest.’’
Lawmakers say the money is urgently needed to start rebuilding homes, businesses, public transportation facilities, and other infrastructure damaged by the Oct. 29 storm, one of the worst to strike the Northeast. Sandy is blamed for more than 130 deaths in the United States and tens of billions of dollars in property damages, particularly in New York and New Jersey....
GOP leaders cut spending in the Senate bill unrelated to disasters.
One was to transfer $1 billion for training Iraqi police officers, allowing it to be used for bolstering security at US diplomatic missions. Also deleted was $188 million for an Amtrak expansion project that included new tunnels from New Jersey to Penn Station in Manhattan.
Related: Amtrak ridership grows in the Northeast
Amtrak loses $361m; best since 1975
I'm not saying taxpayers shouldn't subsidize the trains, but....
--more--"
"Sandy victims struggle to stay warm; Mold persistent in areas hit hard by flood waters" by Meghan Barr and Claudia Torrens | Associated Press, January 30, 2013
NEW YORK — Three months after Sandy struck, thousands of storm victims in New York and New Jersey are stuck in limbo: waiting for the heat to come on, for insurance money to come through, for loans to be approved — waiting, in a broader sense, for their upended lives to get back to normal.
It's been winter for over five weeks! WTF?!!
Although Congress passed a $50.5 billion emergency aid package that President Obama signed Tuesday, many say the rebuilding has been complicated by bureaucracy. Some people are still living in mold-infested homes, while others desperately try to persuade the city to tear theirs down. Illegal immigrants who do not qualify for aid are struggling. Small businesses have shut down in neighborhoods where nobody seems to shop anymore.
US officials say they understand the frustration and are working quickly to compensate people for their losses....
‘‘This is a war zone down here,’’ said Donna Graziano, who has been running a 24-hour relief hub near the beach on Staten Island in a tiny white tent heated by a generator. ‘‘This looks no better than it did three months ago.’’
On a recent snowy evening, at least a dozen people huddled over plates of food in Graziano’s tent, which has become a gathering place where displaced residents can exchange greetings and get updates.
‘‘This is three months now. And we’re still fighting,’’ said Nicole Chati, who is waging a battle to convince the city that her flood-damaged house must be torn down. ‘‘And we’re still filling out more paperwork.’’
But Obama's FEMA did a great job in response, remember?
************************
Devon Lawrence, a former Army medic who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, wakes early every morning to heat the bricks and light a kerosene space heater while his 75-year-old mother sits in bed in a hat and gloves....
Support the troops.
--more--"
"Storm system blasts into Southeast, spawning tornadoes, killing at least 2" by KATE BRUMBACK and DAVID GOLDMAN | Associated Press, January 31, 2013
ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — A massive storm system raked the Southeast on Wednesday, spawning tornadoes and dangerous winds that overturned cars on a major Georgia interstate and demolished homes and businesses. At least two people were killed....
The system flattened homes and wiped out parts of a large manufacturing plant. Pieces of insulation hung from trees and power poles, while the local bank was missing a big chunk of its roof....
One other death was reported in Tennessee after an uprooted tree fell onto a storage shed where a man had taken shelter.
--more--"
