About 100,000 homes and businesses
in New York City and Long Island were so damaged by Hurricane
Sandy that restoring power to some of them may take months, New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
About two-thirds are on Long Island’s south shore, with
36,000 clustered in Staten Island and the Rockaways where the
most flooding occurred, Cuomo said yesterday at a news briefing.
“You have some people who have buildings and have homes
that you cannot turn on the power until that building or home is
repaired or replaced,” Cuomo said. “Those are going to be the
most difficult situations.”
Sandy slammed the East Coast with winds of almost 100 miles
(161 kilometers) an hour and a tidal surge more than 13 feet (4
meters) above normal. The Oct. 29 storm displaced thousands of
people, crippled mass transit, knocked out power to more than
8.5 million customers in 21 states and killed more than 100,
including 42 in New York City.
Cuomo said electricity has been restored to 96 percent of
the region, although that doesn’t include 100,000 power
customers whose properties were so damaged it could be months
before service is restored.
About 434,140 homes and businesses, mostly in New York and
New Jersey, remained without power as of 2 p.m. local time
yesterday, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie, 50, said
about 240,000 homes and businesses in the state remained without
electricity yesterday.
Cuomo, a 54-year-old Democrat, has been critical of the
utilities, some of which have struggled to get the lights back
on in less damaged homes for almost two weeks. Yesterday, he
said he’ll be taking a hard look at what caused some utilities
to perform worse than others, after the emergency is over.
‘Better, Faster’
“I want the utilities to work better and faster,” Cuomo
said. “You have people without power for a very long time. It’s
gotten cold. It’s uncomfortable. Yes, we’re understanding, but
we’re also impatient.”
Utility crews are going building by building in flood-
ravaged areas, where the greatest risk was from saltwater
damage, Cuomo said.
“If you energize the house, you could actually create a
fire, an explosion,” he said.
In New York City, where more than one million Consolidated
Edison Inc. (ED) customers lost power, less than 20,000 remain
without service, the utility said. The number also includes
Westchester County, ConEd said. Queens is the hardest-hit
borough with 6,000 without service, followed by Brooklyn with
4,200, the utility said.
Public Housing
Power has been restored to almost 87 percent of more than
400 public housing buildings knocked out by the storm, according
to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office.
As many as 30,000 people in damaged homes may need
temporary housing as cold weather makes their places unlivable,
Bloomberg said yesterday.
Fewer than 1,000 New York City homes have been completely
ruined, most of them in coastal communities of the Rockaways in
Queens and the beaches of Brooklyn, Bloomberg said in his weekly
WOR radio show. Another 70,000 to 80,000 homes had some water
damage, with flooded basements that in many instances destroyed
electrical panels and heating systems, he said.
Starting Nov. 13, those in damaged homes may get expedited
repairs paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
using contractors selected by the city who will assign workers
by geographic area to cut costs and speed completion, the mayor
said. The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP.
Rapid Repair
The “NYC Rapid Repair” program, which Bloomberg said is
the first in the U.S. for disaster recovery, requires homeowners
to obtain a FEMA identification number. The numbers are
available through the agency’s website or the city’s, or by
calling the city’s 311 telephone information line, the mayor
said.
Structures already deemed safe to occupy on streets where
electricity is on will be the first served, the mayor said.
“We have to prioritize and the rational way to do it is
for those we can get the biggest bang in the shortest time,”
Bloomberg told reporters at a City Hall briefing.
Meanwhile, Cuomo said he has created the Empire State
Relief Fund to assist New Yorkers whose homes were damaged or
destroyed by Sandy. The fund, targeting the hardest-hit areas,
will help provide cash for long-term housing and rebuilding, he
said.
A gasoline shortage that prompted rationing in New York
City and Long Island should improve, Cuomo said.
“The supply chain continues to be repaired, and the supply
continues to increase,” he said. The rationing that started
yesterday has helped reduce lines.
Long Lines
“The long lines beget long lines as people panic,” he
said. “People are now calmer.”
The wait for gasoline was more than two hours at the Hess
station on 4th Avenue and Union Street in Brooklyn yesterday,
with a line that stretched 12 blocks — and that was an
improvement.
“The line is shorter, trust me,” said Jean Celestine, 52,
of Park Slope, as he filled his Toyota sport-utility vehicle. He
waited 3 1/2 hours earlier in the week at the same station.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Henry Goldman in New York at
[email protected];
Freeman Klopott in Albany at
[email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Merelman at
[email protected].
