NY and Fed Are Failing In The Sandy Aftermath

[Kathianne]

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20053522/new-york-officials-reportedly-consider-closed-prison-for-displaced-sandy-victims


Officials in New York are reportedly eyeing a recently-closed prison as temporary housing for people displaced by superstorm Sandy and this week's nor'easter.


The New York Post reports that state officials are considering the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island to feed and house as many as 900 victims with nowhere else to turn.


"Our facilities staff have to go through it to determine what it would take to get it up and running for such a purpose," Peter Cutler, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, told the newspaper. "Of course, the challenge is the fact that it was closed a year ago and all of the major infrastructure components, such as boilers and wastewater system, were deactivated."


As many as 40,000 New Yorkers need shelter from extreme weather events, according to city estimates. On Staten Island alone, about 5,200 people applied for temporary FEMA housing, but only about two dozen people have been successfully placed, federal sources told the newspaper.

"It's empty. They might as well use it," said Rob Conigatti, 39, who lost his Dongan Hills home and is now staying with his extended family. "At least they have the right facilities. You can't keep them in schools. The kids gotta go to schoo

Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20053522/new-york-officials-reportedly-consider-closed-prison-for-displaced-sandy-victims#ixzz2Bvj0bnaK

[tailfins]

Obama's effort is still successful, because he "cares".

[gabosaurus]

The same thing happened after Katrina. People on the Gulf Coast went months without help from FEMA.
At that time, it was the states' problem and the Feds were blameless.
How is this different?

[jimnyc]

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20053522/new-york-officials-reportedly-consider-closed-prison-for-displaced-sandy-victims

That's a shame. They are in lots of areas of NY but are absolutely useless, and I've seen many a video now of people that are seeking help. These people are taking many reports but there is little to no outcome for those begging for help. The problem in Katrina with FEMA was that they didn't show at all in many areas, at least not for a long, long time. GWB ordered like $10 billion in funds right in the aftermath but between the state and FEMA they were incompetent. Now FEMA is just incompetent all the way around. You would think they would have learned lessons from Katrina and have been prepared for this.

[Kathianne]

That's a shame. They are in lots of areas of NY but are absolutely useless, and I've seen many a video now of people that are seeking help. These people are taking many reports but there is little to no outcome for those begging for help. The problem in Katrina with FEMA was that they didn't show at all in many areas, at least not for a long, long time. GWB ordered like $10 billion in funds right in the aftermath but between the state and FEMA they were incompetent. Now FEMA is just incompetent all the way around. You would think they would have learned lessons from Katrina and have been prepared for this.

I've got to say that I'm surprised that with the election over, more noise isn't coming from the media. It's muted, to say the least.

[Robert A Whit]

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20053522/new-york-officials-reportedly-consider-closed-prison-for-displaced-sandy-victims

Notice the media is not angry as they were with Katrina. They don't seem to mind that tens of thousands in those areas are homeless and standing in long lines seeking help.

[fj1200]

I've got to say that I'm surprised that with the election over, more noise isn't coming from the media. It's muted, to say the least.

Probably similar to homelessness only being a media problem when a Republican is in office.

[revelarts]

Whole thing just goes to show you that you can't trust the gov't to take care of you in an emergency. (unless your "too big to fail of course). The gov't wants folks to believe that they will swoop in and save the day but guess what, gov't ain't God or superman and never will be. no matter if it's a republican or a democrat in the white house you best be prayed up and have some plans.

[Kathianne]

Notice the media is not angry as they were with Katrina. They don't seem to mind that tens of thousands in those areas are homeless and standing in long lines seeking help.

Someone I know on another board lives and lived in MS during Katrina. She has written several times, that as bad as Katrina was, her house was totally gone, they weren't in danger of freezing. Once they could 'get out' they could get to food, etc., when help did start coming, it didn't stop.

Problem here is that the help doesn't seem to be coming. Temps are dropping, we've got snow forecasted for overnight.

[Kathianne]

This op-ed pretty much sums much of it up:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/11/12/sandy-hurricane-superstorm-katrina/1697893/


Column: Katrina on the HudsonOne parallel: A late evacuation order. Even before the storm struck, weatherblogger Brendan Loy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/22/AR2005102201247.html) -- famous for calling for early evacuation of New Orleans before Katrina struck -- criticizing Mayor Bloomberg (http://pjmedia.com/weathernerd/2012/10/27/get-the-hell-out/) for not ordering early or extensive enough evacuations in New York, and for making the "ignorant" statement that Sandy wouldn't be as bad as a hurricane...

Adding insult to injury, when another nor'easter approached the area FEMA closed its Staten Island office "due to weather (http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121107/tottenville/staten-island-fema-disaster-center-shuts-doors-due-weather)." Time called it "the island (http://nation.time.com/2012/11/02/surviving-hurricane-sandy-the-island-that-new-york-city-forgot/) that New York City forgot." Rudy Giuliani called FEMA's performance "as bad as Katrina (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83321.html).

"Meanwhile, in New Jersey, refugees suffer in bitterly cold tent cities, while officials try to keep criticism quiet:

...

Then there are the gas shortages. These are primarily the result of storm damage. But they've been made worse by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's effort -- joined by New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman -- to crack down on "price gouging." This politics hurts victims (http://ttp//www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/10/sandy_price_gouging_anti_gouging_laws_make_natural _disasters_worse.html). It's elementary economics that holding prices down depresses supply. If you could sell gasoline for $15 a gallon, lots of people would load pickup trucks with gas cans and drive to the storm area, alleviating shortages. (And at that price, people wouldn't buy more than they needed.) If doing that risks arrest, they won't. Political posturing over "gouging" leads to gas lines, further economic disruption and possibly lost lives...