The problems is is the numbers we are dealing with. Let us say for instance 75% of the people on Staten Island left before the storm (I doubt it was that high)
That still is over 100,000 People left on the Island. They have no power or safe drinking water and the food is probably gone if it wasn't destroyed already. And Bloomburg is still gonna run a stupid Marathon that starts on their turf.
I know If I lived there I would be livid.
The other thing to realize is many of these people can't get to work if they even have jobs anymore (think how many businesses are destroyed in the tidal surge) They are soon gonna run out of money so they won't be able to buy stuff anyhow even if they could find some to buy.
This isn't Katrina. This is 30 Katrinas and we will find that Gub'ment won't be able to cope with the demand.
Do you think there was any way this tidal surge could have been predicted in time for people to get out?
Living on the coast, which I did for a lot of my life—(TX)—we were more or less used to hurricanes and such, and could prepare for them. Then again, we usually had several days’ notice.
The way I understand it—and correct me if I am wrong—nobody predicated this tidal wave that ended up hitting NY............
Has this ever before happened that you know of?
Baloney.
SI had two bad days, when power outages peaked at about 70%. That's no fun, but it's not the end of the world. Your food will not spoil in two days, especially in cool weather. Over 50% of customers had service restored by early yesterday. Right now well over 2/3 of customers have power. So this is not the end of the world. This is not another Katrina (I was out of power for a MONTH -- crybaby). There is no life-threatening cold in the immediate forecast.
I am very sorry for the loss of life, and for the destruction suffered by those in flood zones (I trust they are insured and will be able to rebuild, perhaps a little higher above grade).
For most people in SI right now, things are back to normal except that gas is hard to find. Y'all did fill up ahead of the storm, right? You did reserve some water for cooking and flushing? You had more than four days worth of food in the house? May I remind you that Sandy killed just as many human beings in Haiti as in the USA, and that 200,000 destitute people are homeless refugees. Can you spare a tear and a prayer for them? So let's mourn the real victims and help those in real trouble and let everybody else get over their drama and spoiled self-pity.