Power Slowly Coming Back On In NYC After Sandy
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - It's been almost a week since Superstorm Sandy made landfall along the Northeast coast. In some areas of the region life is getting back to normal but many people still lack electric power and are in desperate need of fuel and other necessities.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday cold temperatures will leave "tens of thousands" of people whose homes have been damaged by the superstorm needing other places to live.
Cuomo said it's increasingly clear that homes without heat are uninhabitable as temperatures drop. He added that residents who have been reluctant to leave their homes will have to, and that they'll need housing.
The city also was handing out 25,000 blankets to residents who insist on staying in powerless homes.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city expects that it will have to find housing for 30,000 to 40,000 people.
Latest figures put some 730,000 residents in the New York region without power.
"While it's nice that power is on for two-thirds of the people, until you have your power on, the problem isn't resolved," Gov. Cuomo said.
While trains and subways are nearly fully operational, Cuomo said commuters should expect delays, as schools in the area reopen for business, many after being closed for a week.
Mayor Bloomberg said city children will be put in schools where there are seats open if their schools are closed.
Hundreds of people lined up for food and a chance to charge their cell early Sunday Morning in Coney Island.
The death toll from Sandy continues to climb. At least 90 people have been killed from the superstorm.
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Sen. Charles Schumer said the federal relief effort this time around has already proved to be better than the effort after Hurricane Irene.
"The best resource we have to fight this is being New Yorkers," Schumer said.
Officials said there is a big effort underway to solve the gasoline shortage that had gripped the region at the end of last week.
"There will be more of a supply of gasoline and there will be more of a distribution," Cuomo said. "That does not mean there will be a total alleviation of the problem in the immediate future, but it is getting better."
Schumer said 120 gas stations that need electricity or gasoline or both will hopefully be back up and running by Sunday evening. He said the goal is for the gas situation to get better each day until full service is restored.
Cuomo announced Sunday that more than 850 soldiers and 250 vehicles from Army National Guard units from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Massachusetts are heading to New York to assist in the Sandy response efforts.
The CBS Corporation, the parent company of CBS4 and CBSMiami.com, has contributed one million dollars to the American Red Cross for recovery and assistance. In addition, the CBS Corporation will match any contributions made by its employees to any Sandy related relief effort by make additional contributions to the American Red Cross.
