Six days after Sandy slammed the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, its effects were still being felt up and down the East Coast. Residents of New York and New Jersey continue to struggle with gas and electricity issues.
2:53PM EDT November 3. 2012 -
NEW YORK — New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 80% of New York City subway service had been restored "from what was horrendous damage," the worst in the system's more than 100-year history.
Service to and from Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens was resuming Saturday morning, he said. Cuomo led a round of applause for Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Joseph Lhota saying, "not only did they (the MTA) try hard, but they actually got the job done."
Pumping of the World Trade Center reconstruction site has been completed, Cuomo said. Pumping of the 911 Memorial site should be completed Saturday, he said.
The federal government has increase food stamp allocations for the month by 50% to help storm-hit families to make up for their losses, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said he spoke to Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, who has agreed to send some of his state's recovery equipment and assets to New York, because Connecticut suffered less Sandy damage.
"Fuel is on the way. You do not have to panic," said Cuomo, referring to the long gas lines in New York City and surrounding suburbs.
He said 8 million gallons of gas have already been delivered to terminals in New York State, and 28 million gallons more would be delivered in the next two days.
He announced that the federal defense department has sent fuel directly to New York for distribution at National Guard armories in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island starting Saturday. The gas will be free, with a limit of 10 gallons per vehicle, he said.
Service to and from Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens was resuming Saturday morning, he said. Cuomo led a round of applause for Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Joseph Lhota saying, "not only did they (the MTA) try hard, but they actually got the job done."
Pumping of the World Trade Center reconstruction site has been completed, Cuomo said. Pumping of the 911 Memorial site should be completed Saturday, he said.
The federal government has increase food stamp allocations for the month by 50% to help storm-hit families to make up for their losses, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said he spoke to Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, who has agreed to send some of his state's recovery equipment and assets to New York, because Connecticut suffered less Sandy damage.
"Fuel is on the way. You do not have to panic," said Cuomo, referring to the long gas lines in New York City and surrounding suburbs.
He said 8 million gallons of gas have already been delivered to terminals in New York State, and 28 million gallons more would be delivered in the next two days.
He announced that the federal defense department has sent fuel directly to New York for distribution at National Guard armories in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island starting Saturday. The gas will be free, with a limit of 10 gallons per vehicle, he said.
Later Saturday, government officials asked the public to stay away from the free fuel stations until first responders were able to fuel up.
Long lines of vehicles and pedestrians formed Saturday after opening the mobile fuel stations.
The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs then issued an advisory asking the public to stay away until more fuel is released.
Cuomo said roughly 60% of New Yorkers who had lost electricity have had their power restored. Roughly 550,000 electrical customers are still without power, he said.
"That doesn't mean a lot if you still don't have power," said Cuomo. "Until you get your lights on, you're not happy. I get it."
"We're not going to stop until every house, every home has their power restored," he added.
The governor also continued the state's pressure on the state's electrical utilities, saying they would be held accountable for their performance in recovery efforts. "People are suffering. It's an issue of safety," said Cuomo.
"This was truly a crisis. This was one of the worst storms that has hit this metropolitan area in generations," said Cuomo. "It really is a situation that requires patience, and requires the strength and resilience that New Yorkers are famous for. I'm asking them once again, a little patience a little resilience, a little sense of community, caring about your community. We are getting through it. The worst is behind us. It's not going to be over in 24 hours, but the arrow is pointing in the right direction."
Consolidated Edison reported Saturday that the utility had restored electricity to roughly 645,000 customers, approximately 70% of those who lost power to Superstorm Sandy. Each customer may represent numerous apartments or homes. Most of Manhattan got power back Friday night and Saturday. Restoration efforts continue around the clock, Con Ed said.
New York utilities report about 908,000 customers still without power. Parts of Manhattan started to flicker on overnight.
The Long Island Power Authority continues to report the most outages, with about 460,000 homes, buildings and businesses still dark as of 7:30 a.m. Saturday. There are about 275,000 Con Edison customers without service and another 119,000 in suburban Orange and Rockland counties.
Officials say that as power was being restored Friday, several small explosions jolted residents of a Manhattan neighborhood and popped two manhole covers.
The Daily News said the explosions occurred when the utility started restoring electricity and the current hit salt on the power lines. Nobody was hurt.
In New Jersey, motorists in 12 northern counties will be allowed to buy gasoline just every other day under an order that takes effect at noon.
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 Sandy.
Some gas stations closed because of a lack of electricity or gasoline, causing those open to be overburdened with customers.
Drivers with license plates ending in an even number will be able to buy gas on even-numbered days, and those with plates ending in an odd number can make gas purchases on odd-numbered days.
A Christie spokesman tells the Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark that there currently are no restrictions on filling gas containers.
In Washington, President Obama visited the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an update on superstorm recovery efforts and said "there's nothing more important than us getting this right."
"Obviously we've now seen that after the initial search and rescue, the recovery process is difficult and it's painful," Obama said. "But I'm confident that we will continue to make progress as long as state and local and federal officials stay focused."
Obama cited the need to restore power; pump out water, particularly from electric substations; ensure that basic needs are addressed; remove debris; and get federal resources in place to help transportation systems come back on line.
The storm forced cancellation of Sunday's New York City Marathon. Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed himself Friday and yielded to mounting criticism about running the race, which starts on hard-hit Staten Island and wends through all five of the city's boroughs.
Christie said he would make public a list of when New Jersey utility companies intend to restore power to each community. Even if they end up working faster or slower, he said, residents will have a sense of when power will be restored so they can plan their lives a bit better.
Commuter rail operator NJ Transit said it would have more service restored in time for the workweek to start Monday, most of Atlantic City's casinos reopened, and many school districts decided to hold classes on Thursday and Friday — days previously reserved for the New Jersey Education Association's annual conference, which has been canceled.
More good news in New York: One of two hospitals that had to evacuate patients at the height of Superstorm Sandy is set to begin reopening.
In a statement on its website, officials at NYU Langone Medical Center say "almost all" practices are scheduled to restart Monday though some doctors will see patients at alternate locations.
A message to staff says the hospital doesn't know how long it will have to use the different locations.
At NYU, seven backup generators failed during the storm surge on Monday night, forcing the evacuation of 300 patients.
At Bellevue Hospital Center, some 700 patients had to be evacuated after the power failed. An official there said Thursday the hospital could be out of commission for at least two more weeks.
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