National Guard, South Beach

Photo of National Guard in South Beach, Staten Island, today.

Long Island Man Waits Hours for Gas So He Can See Affleck Movie

Deer Park-North Babylon Park Patch reports:

Harold Jamison will make it to the Tanger Outlet center this afternoon to see Ben Affleck’s “Argo.””That movie is so good, I have to see it. I’m not missing it. It’s about the 1979 Iran conflict and there is old TV video clips and everything,” Jamison said.

But first, he was living his own 1970s-style flashback, a nearly three-hour wait to get gas in Deer Park in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Jamison was in line to get gas at the Deer Park Express station on the corner of Deer Park and Long Island avenues. He was still idling around the corner on Lake Avenue and E. 4th Street. In 90 minutes, he had moved two blocks.

Read the full story, and check out Mark’s excellent “Sweet Daddy” jacket on Deer Park-North Babylon Park Patch.

Obama Stops By FEMA For Briefing On Recovery Efforts

HuffPost’s Sam Stein reports:

WASHINGTON — Before hitting the campaign trail for his final swing before the election, President Barack Obama on Saturday stopped by the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington for a briefing on Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

“We still have a long way to go to make sure that the people of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and some of the surrounding areas get their basic needs taken care of and we get back to normalcy,” Obama said, adding that the situation continues to be his “number one priority.”

The president emphasized five components of recovery: getting power back on as quickly as possible, pumping water out of flooded areas, making sure people’s basic needs are taken care of, debris removal and getting transportation systems up and running again.

“Our hearts continue to go out to those families who have been affected, who have actually lost loved ones,” Obama said. “That’s obviously heartbreaking. But I’m confident that we will continue to make progress as long as state and local and federal officials stay focused.”/blockquote>

Read more here.

Nor’easter Could Hit Sandy-Ravaged Regions

OurAmazingPlanet reports:

With coastal communities in New York and New Jersey still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the last thing the area needs is another storm. But that’s exactly what it might get.

A nor’easter is predicted to potentially hit the East Coast next Wednesday (Nov. 7), and beach erosion experts are concerned about further damage to shorelines devastated by Sandy.

Read the full story here.

How You Can Volunteer Today In NY

Check out this list of places where you can volunteer today in New York.

Options include volunteering in a park, making a donation, donating blood, and going door-to-door through the hardest hit region.

Insurance Industry Must Better Account For Climate Change

HuffPost’s Tom Zeller reports:

There’s no question that an event like Sandy will have insurers adjusting their actuarial tables. Estimates on the amount of damages in the wake of this week’s storm vary, but all are well into the tens of millions. …

Whatever the ultimate value, climate science suggests in broad terms that a warming planet will likely produce more muscular storms, as well as increased heat waves, droughts, higher-precipitation in some areas, and other weather events that have clear implications for the long-term viability of the insurance industry.

Read the full story here.

No Fix Date For The L Train

@ quasimado : MTA official on the L train: The tunnel there is flooded from wall to wall, ceiling to ceiling… it’s going to take awhile. #noo

Obama’s Remarks At FEMA

Per the White House Press Office:

 

 

THE PRESIDENT: Well, listen, I just completed not only a meeting with our team here at FEMA and all of our Cabinet officers who are involved in the recovery process along the East Coast, but we also had a conference call with the governors of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, as well as many of the municipalities who have been directly affected by this crisis and this tragedy.

We still have a long way to go to make sure that the people of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and some of the surrounding areas get their basic needs taken care of and that we start moving back to normalcy.

A couple of things that we’ve emphasized: Number one, that it is critical for us to get power back on as quickly as possible. And just to give people an example of the kind of work we’re doing — the military, DOD, thanks to the work of Leon and others, have been able to get military transport facilities to move cherry-pickers and personnel from as far away as California to get that equipment into the area so we can start getting some of the power back on as quickly as possible. It is a painstaking process, but we’re making progress.

Number two, we’re getting assets in to pump as much water out as possible. Lower Manhattan obviously is a particularly acute example, but there are problems with flooding that are affecting substations throughout the region. That’s going to continue to be a top priority.

 

Number three, making sure that people’s basic needs are taken care of. As we start seeing the weather get a little bit colder, people can’t be without power for long periods of time, without heat for long periods of time. And so what we’re doing is starting to shift to identify where we can have temporary housing outside of shelters so people can get some sense of normalcy. They can have a hot meal; they can have the capacity to take care of their families as their homes are being dealt with.

 

Number four, debris removal still important. Number five, making sure that the National Guard and other federal assets are in place to help with getting the transportation systems back up and running — that’s going to be critical.

 

What I told the governors and the mayors is what I’ve been saying to my team since the start of this event, and that is we don’t have any patience for bureaucracy, we don’t have any patience for red tape, and we want to make sure that we are figuring out a way to get to yes, as opposed to no, when it comes to these problems.

 

The other thing I emphasized, though, is that it is much easier for us to respond if we know what these problems are out in these areas, so if everybody can help publicize the number 800-621-FEMA — 800-621-FEMA — then individuals can register with FEMA and immediately get the assistance that they need.

 

And so the more that folks in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut understand that there are a lot of resources available for them, not just with respect to housing, but also with respect to childcare, medicine, a whole range of support, then we want to make sure that they contact us as soon as possible if they’re in distress because help is available.

Let me just close by saying this: Obviously we’ve now seen that after the initial search and rescue, the recovery process is difficult and it’s painful. But the governors at the local level — Governors Christie, Cuomo, and Malloy — they are working around the clock, their teams are working around the clock. We are incredibly grateful to the heroism and hard work of our first responders, many of whom themselves have had their homes flooded out. Our hearts continue to go out to those families who have been affected and who have actually lost loved ones — that’s obviously heartbreaking.

But I’m confident that we can continue to make progress as long as state, local and federal officials stay focused. And I can assure you everybody on this team, everybody sitting around the table has made this a number-one priority and this continues to be my number-one priority.

There’s nothing more important than us getting this right. And we’re going to spend as much time, effort and energy as necessary to make sure that all the people in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut know that the entire country is behind them in this difficult recovery effort. We are going to put not just 100 percent, but 120 percent behind making sure that they get the resources they need to rebuild and recover.

 

Cuomo: Free Gas To Be Distributed

From the AP:

New York’s governor says the U.S. Department of Defense will set up emergency mobile fuel stations around the New York City metro area.

Free gasoline will be distributed, with a 10-gallon per-person limit.

The announcement was made Saturday at a briefing by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

20,254 Flight Canceled Due To Sandy

FlightStats.com has issued a report stating that from October 27th to November 1st in North America alone, 20,254 flights were canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Roughly 9,978 flights were canceled at New York area airports alone.

United stands as the airline with the most cancellations by Sandy (2,149), followed by JetBlue (1,469), US Airways (1,454), Southwest (1,436), Delta (1,293) and American (759). In an examination of weather events over the past seven years, Sandy comes in second in terms of total number of cancelled flights, behind the North American Blizzard of February 2010 (22,441 flights).

New York Governor Gives Subway Update

@ quasimado : Cuomo: 80 percent of NYC subway system restored.

Bodies Of The Elderly Found After Storm

From AP:

Even with her Coney Island apartment squarely in the path of Superstorm Sandy, Loraine Gore was staying put. At age 90, she said, she had her reasons.

“I’m tired,” she told a friend who urged her to evacuate. “I don’t want to go.”

After floodwaters subsided, Gore’s body was found face-down in her home – one of nearly a dozen New Yorkers over the age of 65 who perished in the storm.

Read the full story here.

Fire Powered Cell Phone Chargers For Sale

NY Deploying Temporary Fuel Trucks

@ NYGovCuomo : Governor Cuomo Announces Deployment of Temporary Fuel Trucks Throughout the Region http://t.co/w9azV2wN

New Jersey Governor Orders Gas Rationing

From The Associated Press:

Motorists in 12 northern New Jersey counties will be allowed to buy gasoline just every other day under an order by Gov. Chris Christie that takes effect at noon Saturday.

Christie says he wants to ease long lines and extended wait times at gas stations and prevent a fuel shortage in the state hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy.

Read the whole story here.

Why Advance Information On Storms Is Critical

HuffPost blogger Rep. Ed Markey writes:

Information, in advance of storms and to aid relief after, plays a critical role. That is why both NOAA and FEMA must have the resources they need to protect families.

As Gov. Chris Christie mentioned in remarks this week, the loss of life could have been much worse. No one took Sandy lightly, as early warning and real time information derived from NOAA’s satellites and forecasts saved lives.

This is a perfect example of the dangers of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) budget proposal. That short-sighted scheme would cut $250 million from the NOAA’s satellite program, crippling our weather prediction capability. NOAA ran an analysis in 2011 that found without data from the satellite closest to the end of its shelf life, the accuracy of its forecasts for major storms like blizzards and hurricanes would decrease by approximately 50 percent.

That’s the difference between knowing the storm will bring heavy rain or cause a flash flood and would place lives at risk.

Read the full blog post here.

24-Hour Hotline To Report Pets Needing Rescue

@ ASPCA : NYC ALERT: 24-hour hotline for evacuees to report pets who need rescue! **347-573-1561** #sandypets Please RT

Philadelphia Offers NY Marathoners A Race

@ NBCPhiladelphia : After the #INGNYCM was canceled, @Philly_Marathon offers marathoners a race to run if they raise money for charity. http://t.co/WKNWbpoy

CNN: U.S. Death Toll Over 100

@ BreakingNews : CNN puts US death toll from Superstorm Sandy at 106 – @CNN http://t.co/00351ytV

Gas Shortage Lingers, Crippling Aid Organizations

HuffPost’s Alice Hines and Mark Gongloff report:

At 3 p.m. on the Friday after Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, the St. Jacobi church in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was overflowing with boxes of water bottles, piles of clothes and volunteers baking bread pudding. The mood was busy and hopeful as 350 people helped sort donations from across Brooklyn to be sent out to neighborhoods like Staten Island and Far Rockaway that were devastated by the storm.

But one key element was missing: gasoline.

“We have a lot of everything right now,” said Diana Aguinaga, a dental hygienist who was volunteering at the donation hub, a joint effort of 350.org and Occupy Wall Street. “What we really need is a car with gas.” Outside the church, there were about 15 parked drivers loading and unloading supplies, though not all of them had enough gas in their tank to go as far as was needed.

Read the full story here.

In Hard-Hit Rockaways, Community Begs For Basic Necessities

HuffPost’s Ben Hallman reports:

On Thursday afternoon, firemen set up a few grills near an intersection here and cooked burgers for hungry residents in this beach community devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

On Friday afternoon, the grills were gone. The firemen were now training a hose on a row of businesses and homes around the corner that had burned down at the height of the storm. The only lunch option for those in need was a small pile of packaged goods dumped in a unappetizing heap on the dirty ground near a crowded mobile phone charging station set up by police. The nearest hot meal was more than a mile away, past the smoldering ruins, at an intersection where Ajay Singh and three other Sikh men from Queens had come of their own initiative to dole out steaming bowls of rice and beans and toasted bread made in their church kitchen.

Read the full story here.

Fighting Hinders Recovery Process In NJ

HuffPost’s Jaweed Kaleem and Lucas Kavner report:

Waiting in a 45-minute line Friday morning at a Hess gas station in Center Moriches, Long Island, to fill up a portable fuel tank, Chip Daniel noticed sudden a flurry of police cars surrounding the station. He heard shouts and stomping, and the groaning of drivers in the packed crowd of cars in what is becoming an increasingly familiar scene at New York and New Jersey gas stations in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

“There was some jackass trying to cut the line and they called the cops. Four police cars came up to him and he began arguing with the police,” said Daniels, 44. “It took them some time, but finally he went back to his own spot.”

Read the full story here.

Why The Marathon Was Called Off

HuffPost’s Katie Bindley and Bonnie Kavoussireport:

The show was supposed to go on. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a midday press conference Friday that the ING New York City Marathonwould lift New Yorkers’ spirits following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, much like it did after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.But the anti-marathon backlash rose Friday as the death toll in New York reached 41, the city’s the transit system remained crippled and the storm’s economic damage was estimated at $50 billion. The marathon’s starting line was to have been on hard-hit Staten Island, where homes and lives were lost this week.

Read more here