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By Tim Jones, Terrence Dopp and Romy Varghese - Nov 4, 2012 7:24 PM ET
The number of New Jersey residents without power from superstorm Sandy fell below 1 million and it may take to the end of the week before service is restored to everyone in the state, Governor Chris Christie said.“For those of you out there who don’t have power and are at a neighbor’s house or at a friend’s house or the Elks Club, I know when I tell you we’re under 1 million people from 2.7 million, it’s not going to mean a damned thing to you unless your power’s on -- I get it,” Christie said at a news briefing today. The Oct. 29 storm blacked out more than half the state.
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Sandy Hayes hugs her boyfriend Tom Musumeci as they look at the debris-filled waterfront from their porch in Union Beach, New Jersey. Photograph: Victor J. Blue/BloombergChristie said he will “continue to use my type of gentle persuasion” to prod utility managers to restore power as soon as possible, at the briefing in Hoboken. He also announced the opening of a new shelter to bolster relief help that’s already accommodating about 4,000 residents. On Nov. 2, he imposed gasoline rationing in 12 counties hardest hit by Sandy.“We’re returning now to a new normal, where power is coming back on, where people are able to fuel up again in their cars and where kids are getting back to school,” the 50-year- old Republican governor said.
Uneven Recovery
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said there are 4,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel in New Jersey and more are on the way. Housing has become the main issue at this point and FEMA workers are trying to get people out of shelters and into longer-term housing, she said.Napolitano met today with Christie and other state and local officials. She went to a school in Hazlet, where water and ice were being given out to those without power. The community is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of East Brunswick and south of Staten Island, the hard-hitNew York City borough.The region’s recovery is uneven. Across some parts of New Jersey and New York that were swept by the storm, power was restored and cleanup was under way. Yet frustration persisted in devastated outlying areas and gasoline remained in short supply as temperatures in the region dropped. Residents began to plot their commutes to work tomorrow with transit services truncated or suspended.“I have power and cable back, so I’m happy,” said Marisa Peacock, 50, of Jersey City.Peacock, a project manager at the American National Standards Institute in New York, expects getting to work tomorrow will take twice as long as normal. Instead of riding a commuter train, she’ll board a bus, which she described as “unreliable.”NJ Transit, the region’s commuter-rail operator, advised customers that normal service would be cut in half during tomorrow’s rush-hour periods, with buses replacing some trains.
Gas and Food
The death toll from Sandy was at least 111 nationwide, according to the Associated Press, with 24 in New Jersey. There are 5,243 people and 107 pets in New Jersey shelters as a result of the storm, said Mary Goepfert, a spokeswoman for the state’s Emergency Management Office.About 968,613 New Jersey utility customers lacked electricity as of 9 a.m. today, according to the U.S. Energy Department. That’s down from 1.2 million yesterday and a high of 2.7 million.Christie said BP Plc got about 100 additional gas stations operating today and he expects lines to shorten in coming days.The U.S. Defense Department is also delivering millions of ready-to-eat meals to affected areas, including about 500,000 scheduled to arrive today in Lakehurst, New Jersey, according to a statement from the Pentagon.
More Rain
A new East Coast storm will probably bring colder weather and rain by Nov. 8, hitting areas that are still recovering from Sandy, according to the National Weather Service.In New York state, there were about 730,000 homes without power, which will help create both an immediate and long-term housing crisis, Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a news briefing.All but 65 of about 1,750 New York City public schools will be open, Mayor Michael Bloombergsaid. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.The U.S. Navy has sent three ships and about 2,000 sailors to the New York metropolitan area to assist recovery efforts, according to Courtney Hillson, a spokeswoman for the service.The Navy is helping to repair the storm-damaged Hoboken Ferry Terminal and a Coast Guard station at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Hillson said. Twenty-two Navy and Marine Corps helicopters are also being used in the effort, she said.In Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Nabir Degnich, 34, said he is relieved that power was restored to his home, where he lives with his pregnant wife. He works at an Exxon gas station that has been without power for about six days and unable to pump fuel.
‘Getting Better’
“Day after day, you feel it is getting better,” Degnich said.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-04/power-restored-to-more-new-jersey-residents-as-napolitano-visits.html
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