The most devastating storm that the Northeast has seen in modern times left a trail of devastation from Virginia to New England. Fortunately Nassau County was spared the worst of Hurricane Sandy’s fury compared to Staten Island and Queens and especially nearby Breezy Point where 100 homes were burned to the ground.
Nevertheless there has been considerable damage and suffering here. Fallen trees tore through houses and destroyed cars. Islanders have endured the inconvenience of a massive power failure that before last weekend was nearly unimaginable. Nearly every home on the island was left in the dark, in some cases for days. Some are still in the dark. The resilience that was demonstrated on the day after Frankenstorm turned to frustration as drivers waited in endless lines for gas later in the week.
“This is certainly one of if not the worst effects of a storm that I have seen here on Long Island,” said Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
But by Saturday there was hope. Standing with Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Rep. Peter King, Mangano said, “The good news is we are working together.” He then praised the support of President Obama and Gov. Cuomo. Just three days before Election Day, Sandy brought together strange bedfellows.
Napolitano promised to make certain that FEMA would be on the island to cut the red tape and respond quickly to homeowners and small businesses desperately in need of relief.
Cuomo began working with local leaders like Mangano before the storm hit. He has since sent in the National Guard to help with the relief effort. Every elected official has put aside partisan politics to help speed the recovery.
Despite understandable frustration – our offices were also in the dark – we think most will concede that the county was well prepared for this storm, as well as possible for a storm packing unprecedented fury.
The forecast from the National Weather Service was accurate giving officials days to prepare. Most residents heeded the warning and stocked up on bottled water, canned food and flashlights clearing the shelves at local stores.
But no one expected the level of damage done to Long Island’s power grid. More than 943,000 of LIPA’s customers were left in the dark. That’s 85 percent of the island.
After the storm Cuomo said, “Long Island’s [electrical service] is probably the hardest hit.”
The LIPA crews have been working back-to-back 16-hour shifts since the storm hit, oftentimes under dangerous conditions. They are Long Islanders too and their families were also in the dark and, in some cases their homes were flooded.
The linemen were backed up by crews that came in from across the nation. They all deserve the gratitude of a public that understandably grew frustrated sitting in the dark not knowing when the lights will come on.
We wish we could say the same for LIPA officials, who have failed to adequately meet the challenge posed by the storm.
As we have come to expect in an emergency the county’s first responders – the police, firefighters and ambulance crews – did their best, sometimes risking their lives, to help Long Islanders get through this storm. Like the linemen, they put their families and homes second in order to do their jobs. Because of their efforts, the death toll in Nassau County was minimal.
And we are particularly impressed by the volunteers who continue to reach out to residents left homeless or sitting in cold, dark homes.
Hurricane Sandy was an incredible and terrible storm, one that those who lived through it will never forget.
But the response has been even more incredible. Unlike the people in New Orleans who witnessed the total failure of government on every level after Hurricane Katrina, the people of Nassau County should be proud of and grateful for the response to Hurricane Sandy.
