<p>scmom–the rumors about workers turned away because of being non-union were debunked last week, by their home companies. It did not happen. We are thrilled with every bit of help, and non-union working groups have been in NJ and NY. It was a shame, though, that media with agendas picked up the rumors and reported them as fact.</p>
<p>We were without power/heat from the 29th day of storm till Tuesday 11/6 to only lose it again last night with transformer exploding 4 houses away. Eight inches of snow and the Morning temp inside house was 42 degrees. </p>
<p>On LI it is on the verge of anarchy with the power company. Cuomo is incompetent plain and simple as are the rest of the local officials playing the blame game. There are over 200K still without power, now they are cutting off meters, literally off the homes and leaving them on the ground. Homeowners responsible for $500 replacement of meters as well as no power until 40K have door to door inspections to evaluate(sitting inside 40 degree homes waiting for them to come, but will not give you day or time they will come) if homes are even safe to reconnect. Some told it could December or later before they can get powered back. As of this evening we have been told the military has been contacted to take over the process, it is in total shambles right now. A day late and a dollar short, Cuomo FINALLY instituted gasoline rationing, as was done in Jersey over a week ago. We have well over 2+ hour gas lines, and no signs of it abating anytime soon.</p>
<p>Our village officials gave living accommodation to crews from Maine/Wisconsin/ North Carolina as well as food, so as to keep them local working alongside our Department of Public Works guys. Thankfully our Mayor promised he would not let them leave until all were back powered. Last nights storm knocked 2500+ out we only have 3100 homes in village. Our mayor told us that LIPA was not giving out the work orders to these men. </p>
<p>The utility company told me on the phone after we lost power again last night, 2 weeks more before we would be restored. Since we had power restored for 21 hours, we were considered a new storm victim not the original hurricane so we went down to the bottom of the repair pile. </p>
<p>My 14 year old son went on a quest to find our Wisconsin line men, spent 2 hours trekking thru the snow, found the guys, pleaded with them would they come back, guy asked him was he a Giants fan or Green Bay, my son told him he had an Arron Rodgers jersey at home and did he want to see it. The lineman asked how to get to our house, he promised my son he would comeback or would send one of the other linemen. Lo and behold, at 6 pm (at this point we had made plans to get out of dodge, we were going to a Hotel in Connecticut after school let out Friday no hotels within 50/60 miles with vacancies due to the Hurricane) flashing yellow lights parked outside our home, this time it was the North Carolina crew. I am going to find them tomorrow to personally thank them.</p>
<p>The kids have missed another day of school because of the snow, on top of the 5 last week and Monday and Tuesday of this week. I don’t see things returning to any version of normal anytime soon around here.</p>
<p>samiamy - my heart is breaking after reading your post. I can’t believe the after effects of the storm are not getting more publicity and more help. I’m sitting here upstate, safe and warm with no snow, and our local news is barely covering it anymore. PTSA and school groups are collecting donations to ship downstate but even here it seems the outcry is so much less than with Katrina and Irene despite it being so much closer to home and with winter upon us. It just seems so wrong.</p>
<p>Read in today’s paper that most of the CL&P crews are heading to NY and NJ now to lend a hand. Plus, one would think the OOS crews that were in CT are also now available.</p>
<p>Hoping those of you without power get it back ASAP.</p>
<p>Crews from South Carolina and Ohio worked tirelessly to get power back to my battered Jersey Shore town. I was told by my local police that they had been sleeping in tents and it was freezing here. Power on the other night. The families on my street cheered from their front porches as the crews drove away. </p>
<p>My prayers are with all of you who are still waiting for warmth and light.</p>
<p>We had guys from Entergy Texas work tirelessly to reconnect our town. Most everyone got back Monday to Wednesday. </p>
<p>We called them the calgary. They were wonderful and everyone loved that they said ma’am whenever they spoke to a woman. People kept bringing them food & coffee, so much that they finally had to polilitely decline, as they had too much to eat. </p>
<p>When I saw them roll into town last Friday, I put down my car window and yelled “Welcome to New Jersey” and gave them a big thumbs up. From their FB page, they are overwhelmed by the reaction and did not expect such a warm reception. (guess the media portrayals of NJ clouded their expectations). The 7" of snow this week was a first to many of them too.</p>
<p>Samiamy, that is just jawdropping, what is happening to you. What a dose of reality for the rest of us. I hope the misery is over soon.</p>
<p>We have people here at the Jersey Shore who are still without power from the hurricane. Those in shelters are being moved to tent cities with inadequate heat. Others are just freezing in their homes. This is a disaster. These linemen have been working around the clock and are truly heroes. They are also freezing. Why aren’t the management of these power companies being held accountable? This is worse than Katrina, because of the temperatures. People are dying of hypothermia! Thanks you everyone for the donations, but right now people need heat! I am devastated for my state. This is going to be a terrible holiday season for so many.<br>
People who want to help maybe should consider waiting a little. We are overwhelmed with clothing donations, but the people with no houses have no place to store more than the clothes on their backs. These people are going to need assistance at Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to be able to have a semblance of a holiday for their children. There will be a lot of people on the giving trees in NJ this year. I am hoping that people will be able to adopt families to ensure some sort of Christmas this year
Sorry for the ramble. I am exhausted from 10 non stop days in the ER and I am so very sad for New Jersey.</p>
<p>Funny how we sit on CC fussing about Ivy admits- and then see the goodness and decency of workers coming in from another state.<br>
I worry about the families who can’t go out looking for the linemen.</p>
<p>I wonder if those of us who live near colleges should “adopt” a kid for Thanksgiving, a student who can’t get home or has no home to go to.</p>
<p>Our church typically sends a group of 10-15 HS students for hurricane rebuilding every spring break. I was a chaperone this past April to the Outer Bank of NC. Other years we’ve gone to Louisiana. We are already getting calls from work crews from around the country that are ready to come & stay w us, as we are <1 hour to enought disaster locations, including Staten Island. </p>
<p>it will be a long process to rebuild.</p>
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<p>No it is not. Things are bad but let’s not completely lose perspective. Over 1800 people died in Katrina.</p>
<p>My heart goes out to all you folks in the NE. </p>
<p>One of Hs employees has a nephew who works for Avista (our power co) who is out there attached to a crew from Minnesota or Wisconsin. He says the folks w/o power have been unbelievably kind and PATIENT. He is surprised at how old and basic the cables and infrastructures are. </p>
<p>In the last 15 years or so most towns/cities/counties in the Inland NW passed bonds to upgrade their power cables and facilities. Before, once or twice every year when there was rain or snow from the west followed by freezing Canadian winds from the north, homes/businesses would lose power and start-using generators resulting in a lot of generator related fires. </p>
<p>Even if it is cost prohibitive to put cables underground, there are vast improvements that can be made to the above ground cables systems. Yes, it is VERY costly but that cost is shared by many, many more people in the NE than rural towns and counties in the Inland NW.</p>
<p>nj2011mom–I contacted Entergy Texas and passed on your compliment. Ma’am, it was appreciated.</p>
<p>Garland, glad to hear that. We are in hurricane country so I know how much it means to see the crews from other places come in and help. Looks like a slight warming trend coming to NE…I hope that helps or at least makes it more bearable for those without heat.</p>
<p>It looks like my husband will be traveling down to the affected areas next week to perform structure inspections for insurance companies. Is there anything he should know or do to make things go more smoothly? Is he going to have a hard time finding gas, for instance? Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>dkitty21, is there any way we can find out the names of families to adopt for Christmas? If you know how to connect us with them that would be wonderful.</p>
<p>Cartera - we can agree to disagree, this is a catastrophe. And I have a good perspective, thank you.</p>
<p>Mattmoosemom - Want to adopt a Hurricane Sandy family for Christmas? Email <a href="mailto:operationjerseyshoresanta@live.org">operationjerseyshoresanta@live.org</a> and they will pair you up.</p>
<p>Gasoline is fairly easy to find in NJ. It’s still tough on Long Island. The main issue was gas stations not having power to pump it out of their tanks. (still a big issue on LI) </p>
<p>It’s cold this week, but the weather is supposed to be better next week. </p>
<p>You may/may not agree w Chris Cristie’s politics, but he has been amazing throughout this and has kept priorities in place and hasn’t been aftaid to make specific requests from the Federal Goverment for aid, manpower, etc. (yes, many pockets have slipped and too many people still don’t have power, but there was so much to do…don’t get me going on the complete ineptitude of NJ Transit). Compared to the chaos in NY, we are lucky.</p>
<p>PS - from a pure property damage, this seems worse than Katrina. Just look at Staten Island. The loss of life is far less, as people did heed the evacutation warnings.</p>
<p>Doesn’t this sound like fun? Lose everything, “go” to prison.
[New</a> York officials reportedly consider closed prison for displaced Sandy victims | Fox News](<a href=“New York officials reportedly consider closed prison for displaced Sandy victims | Fox News”>New York officials reportedly consider closed prison for displaced Sandy victims | Fox News)</p>
<p>May I ask where is the outcry about the thousands of people in housing projects who have no heat, hot water, elevators, are defecating in the hallways and otherwise living in squalor? Half the people in NYC who are still without power live in public housing and there seems no urgency about helping them. I don’t think this storm is comparable to Katrina, but I do recall a significant outcry when poor, elderly and people of color were left to fend for themselves. I don’t see such outrage now and I wonder why. Particularly since it’s gotten COLD here.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn, at least some of the gas stations in Westchester now have gas. I think there’s plenty in CT (Exit 2 on I-95). They’d almost finished fixing the electricty in our town when we got the nor’easter and lost a bunch more trees!</p>
<p>I feel really sorry for people in apartments without flushing toilets and lights. That must be a nightmare.</p>