Posted on 11/01/2012 6:24:55 AM PDT by blam
Tempers Flare: Residents Complain Government Is Too Slow Distributing Food And Supplies
Mac Slavo
October 31st, 2012
Hurricane Sandy made landfall just 36 hours ago and already weve received reports of looting in hard-hit areas with some people brazenly taking to Twitter to post pictures of their new found wealth.
Ahead of the storm panic buying left grocery and hardware store shelves empty as concerned residents stocked up on food, water, batteries, flashlights, and generators.
With the run on supplies over the weekend, tens of thousands of people were inevitably left without essential survival items due to shortages across the region, and now they are demanding action from government officials.
Officials in the city of Hoboken, N.J., are defending their response to severe flooding from superstorm Sandy.
Public Safety director Jon Tooke says at least 25 percent of the city on the Hudson River across from Manhattan remains under water. He estimates at least 20,000 people are stranded and says most are being encouraged to shelter in place until floodwaters recede.
Tempers flared Wednesday morning outside City Hall as some residents complained the city was slow to get food and other supplies out to the stranded.
Tooke says emergency personnel have been working 24/7. He says the scope of this situation is enormous.
Without any way to heat their homes due to power outages, no food in their pantries and water supplies potentially tainted with polluted flood waters, those who failed to prepare are now at the mercy of the Federal Emergency Management Agencys crisis safety net.
But, as FEMA has advised in its emergency preparedness guidelines, despite millions of dollars in supplies having been purchased by the Federal government, if emergency responders and the transportation infrastructure is overwhelmed, help may not be coming for days or weeks.
While damage from Hurricane Sandy may not be as widespread or severe as earlier reports suggested it could be, what should be crystal clear is that any serious long-term emergency would be horrific for the non-prepper.
In New Jersey some 20,000 residents are affected and already there are not enough supplies to go around and sanity is rapidly destabilizing.
The government simply does not have the manpower to deal with an emergency requiring the delivery of food and water to hundreds of thousands of people. The saving grace for the east coast is that the damage was not as bad as it could have been, and residents were made aware of the coming storm days in advance, giving them ample time to stock up or evacuate.
Imagine the effects of an unforeseen, more widespread disaster such as coordinated dirty-bomb terror attacks, a natural disaster requiring permanent mass evacuations of entire cities, destruction of the national power grid, or the collapse of the currency systems necessary for the global exchange of key commodities.
Even those who set aside supplies for such disasters would be hard-pressed to survive; never mind those who have less than three days of food in their pantries.
Yes, depending upon the source. I saw plenty of mention of the need to evacuate low-lying areas and what to do to get ready for prolongued power outages.
>>did they give any advice as to what to do? How to prepare for it? or did they just say “the big one’s coming”?
Locally they gave a lot of information. All the basics, prepare to be without power 5-10 days, amount of water per person per day, local shelter locations, towns with mandatory evac orders, gas up your cars, etc etc.
Dunno what your local media did, but they did a good job here IMO. People here also went through two storms last year that had us without power for 5-10 days (unlike NYC), so we all knew what to expect. That I am reading local officials whining in the local papers is somewhat baffling to me as none of this is a surprise.
———Irene was an inland flooding event-——
Not in Mississippi and Alabama
People need to move out of their disaster and live somewhere else while they repair. If they are renters - just leave and start over in a new, safe spot. If they are on welfare in destroyed low income housing, they have to leave and get a new place.
If all goes well, it will take months or a year or longer for the hard hit affected areas to be normal again. When things are put right, renters can move back if they want to live at the beach. Liberals do no one any favors playing the angry, helpless victim right now. Citizens who live in disaster areas have to analyze their situation, act and get things set up for themselves immediately and then long term.
Flood water is dirty. You cannot live in it.
Are you thinking of Isaac from this year?
NYC proper, especially LI hasn’t had something of this magnitude in a while. Hopefully it will foster a new sense of independence in a few locals. I suspect a good deal of the gas lines in NJ are locals getting gas for their gennies. Which means NEXT time they’ll buy gas, and the appropriate cans, BEFORE hand. I’m working on my local friends to invest in water filtration stuff next. If some of the munis in central NJ run out of fuel or have problems with their backup gennies that’ll go bad in a hurry. They’re all OK wrt food and essentials like firewood and even bottled water. In a ‘one second after’ scenario they’d have to bug out eventually because the lots are WAY to small to grow anything but a few tomatos and herbs.
He’s pretty hard-headed; comes by it honest. Until fairly recently, a liberal. - We’re practical, and he was raised practical. - In fact, we live rural, have firewood in enough for 3 or 4 years, food and supplies stored in a storm bunker, a well drilled, and other preparations made. - He also likes to be a bit of a daredevil; does stuff like goes on the hurricane planes into the eye of the storm and other stuff I’m sure he doesn’t tell me. - It runs in the family (sort of like diarrhea); his cousin does high bridge inspections regularly at dizzying heights; another cousin is a steel worker at great heights. - I suppose this is an expensive learning experience. - To his credit,he didn’t vote Obama - this time.
“Sandy-starved New Yorkers Dumpster Dive”.
“This can’t possibly be true!
I saw, with my own eyes, the President himself touring the devastation PERSONALLY!
Why, he even hugged someone to make them feel better!
And how can there be looting?
There is no mention of it on the news!”
At least NJ and NY have strict gun control so the looters should be safe. /s
I do remember that.
My hair trigger reaction was over Katrina. I was wrong.
Katrina in NOLA was inland flooding also
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