Saturday, November 3, 2012

Tempers rise as temps fall after Sandy

Tempers are beginning to flare as Sandy's victims woke in cold, dark homes today to face yet another grinding day of waiting for help while temperatures are forecast to drop into the 30s with a possible Nor'easter on the way.

Nearly 4 million people spent a fourth day without power and were told some will have to wait weeks.

In the meantime, they waited for hours in line yet again for scarce gasoline supplies, water and food, or endured marathon commutes.

Police have been keeping order at hours-long gas station lines, but the fight for fuel is starting to get nasty. Authorities say a motorist was arrested after he tried to cut in line at a gas station in Queens Thursday and allegedly pointed a pistol at another motorist who complained, according to the Associated Press.

The man was identified as Sean Bailey, 35, and he faces charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

Conditions will worsen for those without power as temperatures dip into the 30s this weekend and the National Weather Service warns that a Nor'easter could rake the Northeast coastline starting Tuesday.

In addition, the death toll from Sandy's rampage edged up to 90.

Some parts of the area hammered by Sandy feel they have been left behind in the rush to restore power to Manhattan.

Staten Island was one of the hardest-hit communities in New York City. More than 80,000 residents are still without power, many are homeless, and at least 19 people died there because of the storm.

Hurricane Sandy: Full Coverage

Four days after the storm, supplies are finally making their way to the borough and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro is boiling over in anger at what he sees as a slow relief effort.

"This is America, not a third world nation. We need food, we need clothing," Molinaro said.

Staten Island resident Desi Caruso told ABC News said Sandy has destroyed his neighborhood.

"This neighborhood, we are close. We like each other and now all of our lives here are going to separate and we're going to be broken apart," Caruso said.

Photos: Assessing Sandy's Destruction

Caruso, a music producer who has lived in Staten Island for 20 years, plans to move because the risk of another storm causing massive damage is too great.

"Just how you see everything look, that's how my life feels right now. Just a mess. It's a mess," he said.

Red Cross worker Josh Lockwood, on Staten Island, defended relief efforts.

"So many people are in need right now on such a scale that getting the materials to them as quickly as we can so that their needs are met, that's the chief challenge," said Lockwood.

The Red Cross says it's trying to get more out-of-town volunteers to help with storm relief efforts in the Northeast. Volunteer Joe Hawkins, of Greenville, S.C., is helping people in Staten Island.

"I've been on a lot of disasters, you know, from Katrina on, but some of your areas down near the coast are bad as I've ever seen," Hawkins said.

Some on the New Jersey coastline were hit just as hard as Staten Island residents and they were allowed back into their communities Thursday to get their first look at the devastation.

"That's it. I have nothing. I can't get to my job. I had two cars down there because we thought they'd be safe. They're gone," Marianne Russell, of Moonachie, N.J., told WABC.

"A lot of tears are being shed today," said Dennis Cucci, whose home near the ocean in Point Pleasant Beach was heavily damaged. "It's absolutely mind-boggling."

President Obama held a call with state and local officials from New York, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to discuss the repair effort late Thursday night, according to a White House official.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino will travel to Staten Island today to meet with state and local officials and inspect recovery efforts.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the main concern now is over the elderly and poor all but trapped on upper floors of housing complexes in the powerless buildings.

"Our problem is making sure they know that food is available," Bloomberg said Thursday, as officials expressed concern about people having to haul water from fire hydrants up darkened flights of stairs.

In Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, Mary Wilson, 75, walked downstairs from her 19th floor apartment for the first time Thursday because she ran out of bottled water and felt she was going to faint. She said she met people on the stairs who helped her down.

"I did a lot of praying: 'Help me to get to the main floor.' Now I've got to pray to get to the top," she said, after buying water from a convenience store . "I said, 'I'll go down today or they'll find me dead," she added.

As essentials dwindle in powerless areas, reports of looting have occurred. Early Thursday morning 18 individuals were arrested for burglary of a Key Food in Coney Island, according to police.

In Far Rockaway, Queens, four arrests were made Thursday stemming from the entry of a closed Radio Shack.

ABC News' Alexis Shaw, Jennifer Abbey, ABC News Radio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/tempers-rise-temperatures-fall-061645734--abc-news-topstories.html

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