Hurricane Sandy aftermath day 5: still no power, no info, losing hope

Five days and counting. The post-Sandy frustration levels are building. We need information. But PSE&G is like the Sphinx. Their response is always the same — 7 to 10 days, maybe. I'm not holding my breath.

When I wake up in the morning I can see my breath.

In their latest "official" update they're still sticking to the flooded switching station story.

I call bullshit. There's a switching station around the corner from me. It's deserted. And there's power along Bloomfield Avenue. That power doesn't come from magic unicorns. So if they've got power and we don't? It can't be because the switching station is flooded. Face it, PSE&G just doesn't care about us.

Major roads in Caldwell remain impassable, blocked by fallen trees and downed power lines, right where they fell during the storm. Exiting our neighborhood is like navigating a maze. The cops put up yellow tape and orange cones, and told us to wait for Godot PSE&G.

There have been PSE&G truck sightings. At Dunkin' Donuts. They load up on coffee and then vanish, destined for parts unknown. There are rumors of some streets getting power back. But as night falls the darkness envelopes us, and we're transported to something closer to North Korea than what we've come to expect from 21st century America.

Have you seen the devastation in Staten Island? They got slammed. And FEMA, Obama, Bloomberg, Red Cross? AWOL. When you rely on government to save you, government gets to decide if you're worth saving. After the Indonesian tsunami the U.S. Navy was able to air drop in supplies within 24 hours. It's been 5 days. Nobody is air-dropping supplies to Staten Island. Maybe the Navy doesn't know where it is. Or, more likely, Barry told them to "stand down."

Staten Island is filled with white, working-class Catholics. Not exactly an Obama (or Bloomberg) demographic.

More good news for today — gasoline rationing. Yup, it's the 1970's again for sure. Welcome Back Carter! Odd - Even gas lines. Today's an "odd" day. We tried to buy gas. The line was 200 cars long at the one open station we could find.

What is the U.N. sending us? Election monitors. Thanks! We'll be sure to return the favor the next time one of your pissant little menber countries gets wiped out by Mother Nature. I hope Con Ed turns your power back on last.

Oh well, time to go back outside and work on cleaning up the yard. Stay warm folks. There's a Nor'easter headed our way, the forecast says snow for Tuesday night. Yippee Kai Ay.

Posted at 15:32 by Chris Wysocki   [/caldwell]   Comments | Perm Link |
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