Lights in lower Manhattan, misery in outer regions
NEW YORK (AP) - The lights were back on Saturday in lower Manhattan, prompting screams of sweet relief from residents who had been plunged into darkness for nearly five days by Superstorm Sandy. But that joy contrasted with deepening resentment in the city's outer boroughs and suburbs over a continued lack of power and maddening gas shortages.
Adding to the misery of those without power, heat or gasoline were dipping temperatures. Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged older residents without heat to move to shelters and said 25,000 blankets were being distributed across the city.
"We're New Yorkers, and we're going to get through it," the mayor said. "But I don't want anyone to think we're out of the woods."
Bloomberg also said that resolving gas shortages could take days. Lines snaked around gas stations for many blocks all over the stricken region, including northern New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie imposed rationing that recalled the worst days of fuel shortages of the 1970s.
Perhaps nowhere was the scene more confused than at a refueling station in Brooklyn, where the National Guard gave out free gas - an effort to alleviate the situation. There, a mass of honking cars, desperate drivers and people on foot, carrying containers from empty bleach bottles to five-gallon Poland Spring water jugs, was just the latest testament to the misery unleashed by Sandy.
"It's chaos; it's pandemonium out here," said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3½ hours at the site and had circled the block five times. "It seems like nobody has any answers."
Added Damon: "I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened."
Damon, 42, had already been displaced to Brooklyn from his home in Queens, where he still lacked power, as did millions outside Manhattan - from Staten Island, the hardest-hit borough, to Westchester County and other suburban areas.
Domingo Isasi, waiting in a gas line on Staten Island, minced no words about the divide he perceived between Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
"The priorities are showing, simply by the fact that Manhattan got their power back," he said, adding that Staten Islanders are used to being lower on the list. "We're the bastard kids who keep getting slapped in the head and told to shut up," he said.
At a gas giveaway station in Queens, the scene was calmer but not happier. More than 400 cars stretched for more than a dozen blocks, with one tanker filling cars one at a time. A police car pulled alongside a car about 250th in line, and officers told the driver they hoped there would still be gas by the time he got there.
The 5,000-gallon trucks from the Defense Department had been dispatched to five locations around the New York City metropolitan area. "Do not panic. I know there is anxiety about fuel," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Hours later, after the long lines formed, state officials said the public should stay away from the refueling stations until emergency responders got their gas. National Guard Col. Richard Goldenberg added, however, that those who were already at the distribution sites would not be turned away.
Ten people were arrested at gas stations on Friday in various disputes over line jumping, police said. The police presence where there were gas lines was increased on Saturday. Still, there was one arrest for disorderly conduct at the armory in Brooklyn, where free gasoline was being distributed.
And fears about crime, especially at night in darkened neighborhoods, persisted. Officers in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island early Saturday saw a man in a Red Cross jacket checking the front doors of unoccupied houses and arrested him for burglary.
Gas rationing went into effect at noon in 12 counties of northern New Jersey, where police enforced rules to allow only motorists with odd-numbered license plates to refuel. Those with even-numbered plates would get their turn Sunday.
Jessica Tisdale, of Totowa, waited in her Mercedes SUV for 40 minutes at a gas station in Jersey City, but didn't quite understand the system and was ordered to pull away because of her even-numbered plate.
"Is it the number or the letter?" she asked around 12:10 p.m. "I don't think it's fair. I've been in the line since before noon. ...There's no clarity." The officer who waved her out of line threw up his hands and shrugged.
At an Exxon station in Wall, N.J., Kathryn Davidson, who had an even-numbered plate, got gas anyway by beating the noon deadline.
"How are people supposed to know?" said Davidson, 53, who said it reminded her of the 1970s, when a similar plan was in place.
President Barack Obama visited the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an update on recovery efforts and said: "There's nothing more important than us getting this right."
He cited the need to restore power; pump out water, particularly from electric substations; ensure that basic needs are addressed; remove debris; and get federal resources in place to help transportation systems come back on line.
More than 2.6 million people remained without power in several states after Sandy came ashore Monday night.
About 900,000 people still didn't have electricity in the New York metropolitan area, including about 550,000 on Long Island, Cuomo said. About 80 percent of New York City's subway service has been restored, he added.
The restoration of power beat the sunrise Saturday in the West Village, though just barely. Electricity arrived at 4:23 a.m., said Adam Greene, owner of Snack Taverna, a popular eatery.
"This morning, I took a really long, hot shower," he said.
Greene said one woman had stopped in Saturday to drop off $10 for the staff, saying she regretted she didn't have enough cash to tip adequately during the blackout.
He joked that 28th Street, above which had power, was like "Checkpoint Charlie."
"You crossed 28th Street and people were living a comfortable life," Greene said. "Down here it was dark and cold."
Throughout the West Village, people were emerging from their hibernation, happy to regain their footing. Stores started to reopen. Signs at a Whole Foods Market promised that fresh meat and poultry and baked goods would return Sunday.
Aida Padilla was thrilled that the power at her large housing authority complex in Chelsea had returned late Friday. "Thank God," said Padilla, 75. "I screamed and I put the lights on. Everybody was screaming. It was better than New Year's."
Asked about whether she had heat, she replied, "Hot and cold water and heat! Thank God, Jesus!"
Some lower Manhattan residents, however, were still without steam heat.
Michael Cornelison, 42, who works in IT, was glad power was back in his downtown apartment. But he said he had taken advantage of the darkness, too.
"It was nice to disconnect this week," Cornelison said. "I slept a lot." He added that he'd watched movies on his laptop, including "Hurricane in the Bayou."
New York City's parks reopened Saturday, and with Sunday's New York City Marathon canceled, many of the runners who had come to town for the race worked out their frustrations with a jog through Central Park, the site of the finish line that won't be used.
Others scrambled to rebook return flights.
Bloomberg reversed himself Friday and yielded to mounting criticism about running the race, which starts on hard-hit Staten Island and wends through all five of the city's boroughs.
In his first comments since canceling the marathon, Bloomberg said he'd fought to keep it going but the controversy was becoming "so divisive" and too much of a distraction.
"I still think that we had the resources to do both, and that we want people to be able to take a break and that sort of thing. ... It's a big part of our economy," Bloomberg told WCBS-TV during a visit to Queens. As he spoke, he was met by catcalls from residents angry about the city's response to the storm.
Many runners understood the decision, especially with the death toll from the storm at 106, including 40 in New York City. The destruction and power outages made many New Yorkers recoil at the idea of police protecting a foot race and evicting storm victims from hotels to make way for runners. More than half of the 40,000 runners were from out of town.
Some runners, though, vowed to never enter New York again. Pia Nielsen, who flew in from Copenhagen, said city and race officials would have to regain her trust.
But Lucy Marquez said she would come back, even as tears filled her eyes at the thought of the three young children she left at home in Mexico to run in her first marathon - a race her father competed in 12 years ago.
"Shock. Denial. Rage," she said. "I love New York City. This is the marathon I want to run."
___
Associated Press writers Ben Nuckols in Wall, N.J.; Katie Zezima in Jersey City, N.J., and Verena Dobnik, AJ Connelly and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
Adding to the misery of those without power, heat or gasoline were dipping temperatures. Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged older residents without heat to move to shelters and said 25,000 blankets were being distributed across the city.
"We're New Yorkers, and we're going to get through it," the mayor said. "But I don't want anyone to think we're out of the woods."
Bloomberg also said that resolving gas shortages could take days. Lines snaked around gas stations for many blocks all over the stricken region, including northern New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie imposed rationing that recalled the worst days of fuel shortages of the 1970s.
Perhaps nowhere was the scene more confused than at a refueling station in Brooklyn, where the National Guard gave out free gas - an effort to alleviate the situation. There, a mass of honking cars, desperate drivers and people on foot, carrying containers from empty bleach bottles to five-gallon Poland Spring water jugs, was just the latest testament to the misery unleashed by Sandy.
"It's chaos; it's pandemonium out here," said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3½ hours at the site and had circled the block five times. "It seems like nobody has any answers."
Added Damon: "I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened."
Damon, 42, had already been displaced to Brooklyn from his home in Queens, where he still lacked power, as did millions outside Manhattan - from Staten Island, the hardest-hit borough, to Westchester County and other suburban areas.
Domingo Isasi, waiting in a gas line on Staten Island, minced no words about the divide he perceived between Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
"The priorities are showing, simply by the fact that Manhattan got their power back," he said, adding that Staten Islanders are used to being lower on the list. "We're the bastard kids who keep getting slapped in the head and told to shut up," he said.
At a gas giveaway station in Queens, the scene was calmer but not happier. More than 400 cars stretched for more than a dozen blocks, with one tanker filling cars one at a time. A police car pulled alongside a car about 250th in line, and officers told the driver they hoped there would still be gas by the time he got there.
The 5,000-gallon trucks from the Defense Department had been dispatched to five locations around the New York City metropolitan area. "Do not panic. I know there is anxiety about fuel," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Hours later, after the long lines formed, state officials said the public should stay away from the refueling stations until emergency responders got their gas. National Guard Col. Richard Goldenberg added, however, that those who were already at the distribution sites would not be turned away.
Ten people were arrested at gas stations on Friday in various disputes over line jumping, police said. The police presence where there were gas lines was increased on Saturday. Still, there was one arrest for disorderly conduct at the armory in Brooklyn, where free gasoline was being distributed.
And fears about crime, especially at night in darkened neighborhoods, persisted. Officers in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island early Saturday saw a man in a Red Cross jacket checking the front doors of unoccupied houses and arrested him for burglary.
Gas rationing went into effect at noon in 12 counties of northern New Jersey, where police enforced rules to allow only motorists with odd-numbered license plates to refuel. Those with even-numbered plates would get their turn Sunday.
Jessica Tisdale, of Totowa, waited in her Mercedes SUV for 40 minutes at a gas station in Jersey City, but didn't quite understand the system and was ordered to pull away because of her even-numbered plate.
"Is it the number or the letter?" she asked around 12:10 p.m. "I don't think it's fair. I've been in the line since before noon. ...There's no clarity." The officer who waved her out of line threw up his hands and shrugged.
At an Exxon station in Wall, N.J., Kathryn Davidson, who had an even-numbered plate, got gas anyway by beating the noon deadline.
"How are people supposed to know?" said Davidson, 53, who said it reminded her of the 1970s, when a similar plan was in place.
President Barack Obama visited the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an update on recovery efforts and said: "There's nothing more important than us getting this right."
He cited the need to restore power; pump out water, particularly from electric substations; ensure that basic needs are addressed; remove debris; and get federal resources in place to help transportation systems come back on line.
More than 2.6 million people remained without power in several states after Sandy came ashore Monday night.
About 900,000 people still didn't have electricity in the New York metropolitan area, including about 550,000 on Long Island, Cuomo said. About 80 percent of New York City's subway service has been restored, he added.
The restoration of power beat the sunrise Saturday in the West Village, though just barely. Electricity arrived at 4:23 a.m., said Adam Greene, owner of Snack Taverna, a popular eatery.
"This morning, I took a really long, hot shower," he said.
Greene said one woman had stopped in Saturday to drop off $10 for the staff, saying she regretted she didn't have enough cash to tip adequately during the blackout.
He joked that 28th Street, above which had power, was like "Checkpoint Charlie."
"You crossed 28th Street and people were living a comfortable life," Greene said. "Down here it was dark and cold."
Throughout the West Village, people were emerging from their hibernation, happy to regain their footing. Stores started to reopen. Signs at a Whole Foods Market promised that fresh meat and poultry and baked goods would return Sunday.
Aida Padilla was thrilled that the power at her large housing authority complex in Chelsea had returned late Friday. "Thank God," said Padilla, 75. "I screamed and I put the lights on. Everybody was screaming. It was better than New Year's."
Asked about whether she had heat, she replied, "Hot and cold water and heat! Thank God, Jesus!"
Some lower Manhattan residents, however, were still without steam heat.
Michael Cornelison, 42, who works in IT, was glad power was back in his downtown apartment. But he said he had taken advantage of the darkness, too.
"It was nice to disconnect this week," Cornelison said. "I slept a lot." He added that he'd watched movies on his laptop, including "Hurricane in the Bayou."
New York City's parks reopened Saturday, and with Sunday's New York City Marathon canceled, many of the runners who had come to town for the race worked out their frustrations with a jog through Central Park, the site of the finish line that won't be used.
Others scrambled to rebook return flights.
Bloomberg reversed himself Friday and yielded to mounting criticism about running the race, which starts on hard-hit Staten Island and wends through all five of the city's boroughs.
In his first comments since canceling the marathon, Bloomberg said he'd fought to keep it going but the controversy was becoming "so divisive" and too much of a distraction.
"I still think that we had the resources to do both, and that we want people to be able to take a break and that sort of thing. ... It's a big part of our economy," Bloomberg told WCBS-TV during a visit to Queens. As he spoke, he was met by catcalls from residents angry about the city's response to the storm.
Many runners understood the decision, especially with the death toll from the storm at 106, including 40 in New York City. The destruction and power outages made many New Yorkers recoil at the idea of police protecting a foot race and evicting storm victims from hotels to make way for runners. More than half of the 40,000 runners were from out of town.
Some runners, though, vowed to never enter New York again. Pia Nielsen, who flew in from Copenhagen, said city and race officials would have to regain her trust.
But Lucy Marquez said she would come back, even as tears filled her eyes at the thought of the three young children she left at home in Mexico to run in her first marathon - a race her father competed in 12 years ago.
"Shock. Denial. Rage," she said. "I love New York City. This is the marathon I want to run."
___
Associated Press writers Ben Nuckols in Wall, N.J.; Katie Zezima in Jersey City, N.J., and Verena Dobnik, AJ Connelly and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
Anyone hearing about any shootings? Â Is the gunpowder all wet? Â Just wondering...
Tip of the proverbial iceberg.Â
the lack of getting a good look at the after mass is upsetting, living in the north west. but what i do see, is very scary, best wishes for all that have lost, hope u get the help u need quickly, would not ever want that to happen here.
 @maggie112 Yes, sobering...  Has me thinking about just the minimum we should be doing to ensure less impact should this happen here like getting the right things into a survival box around the exits, etc...
To the people who are complaining about not being to run the marathon... shut your mouth! Its not like the city had any control over the weather that hit the region... instead of running, how about you do everyone a favor and help out the victims there or go back home. Im glad the city canceled the event to take care of more serious issues.
 @ajohnsoccer21 I tough this actually rolled...  Last I heard it was on.  Must have been tough for those to get the mixed messages and then cancel the damn thing.  I'd be pissed.
@teahater Well most people intervied understood and was fine with it. Yes, im sure they wish they still got to do it. But a poll that was on espn about if people agree it should be canceled. When I saw it at 120,000 votes, 86% agreed it was the right thing to do. I do think it could of been a good option to set the race up for another date in a couple weeks so people can still run it. For those who came from out of town and cant come back, either refund them or free entry into it next year.
 @ajohnsoccer21 i dis agree none of these people were able to help, the race should of continued, as for the help that was wasent, that should of been taken up else where. if u want the wold to stop because of this, you arent in touch with whom u can help.so rather being selfish, stop thinking the race would of not thought about or seen first hand at what has happened! racing through that mess might of just woke some of them up! obviously sometimes that what it takes
@maggie112 @ajohnsoccer21 Sorry I think you are flat out wrong. To pull resources like police and medical aid from where it is needed for a race that obviously can be rescheduled would be completely irresponsible.
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Perhaps your comment about being "selfish" needs to be re-thunk?
*sigh* Just as in Katrina, just as in Joplin, Missouri, so many people did not heed the warnings. Oh Irene wasn't that bad. Oh the media is just making hype. Oh it is just a Category I. Oh I want to make sure there are no looters.
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Many of these people now DEMANDING help are the same ones that did not evacuate.
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Irene wasn't that bad - Irene was its own storm like Sandy, not all storms are the same.
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Oh the media is just making hype - Sandy lived fully up to every media report, and worse.
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Oh it is just a Category I - that means nothing but the wind speed, you were warned by the media that the central pressure and storm surge was on par for a Category IV storm and the impact area would be record breaking.
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I want to make sure there are no looters - for WHAT?!? Your soaked with sea water, dead fish smelling sand covered flat screen TV??? Really? REALLY??? You had days to get ready. You could have loaded up grandma's silver and the photo album in the back of the car and left the rest for insurance to deal with. Hell if looters take it might make your insurance claims easier, not harder.
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Sorry, but I just don't have a whole lot of empathy for those that ignore official warnings. I wrote before this hit for those that ignored the warnings, please take a Sharpie and write your SSN on your torso - makes identifying the body easier. Sadly - some people learned that the very hard way and worse, two of New York's finest died trying to save those that ignored the warnings.
Pffttt... live in a city because it's more efficient. It's been over a week and there is still chaos. This is why so many New Yorkers move to the suburbs of Florida.Â
The magnitude of this storm was not over-hyped! So the chaos we are seeing is to be expected. I truly feel sorry for those who feel ignored, such as Staten Island and others, but there is only so much manpower and so much equipment and it cannot get to everyone all at once. That is why we have all been taught that in a major disaster DO NOT expect any help for at least three days. Follow the Boy Scout tradition of BE PREPARED. That means gas for your car. That means food and medication for you and your pets. And cold, hard, cash in hand to purchase those things that even good planning misses. Take heart everyone. This too shall pass and we have a lot to learn from it.
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@n9078jk4 What about for people who live away from the city? I live 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store - that's in a car, and most of the roads out here are hilly and narrow. Not good for riding a bike with groceries. *Many* people live away from the cities. Do you suggest that my husband ride a bike from South King County to his job in Everett? We have family that lives 40 minutes from here - that's by car. Do you suggest that we ride our trusty bicycles to get there?
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Please - quit looking down your sanctimonious little nose at people who don't live like you do. I'm betting that you heat your house with electricity - you live "on the grid" as much as most people do. It's just that you do it in different ways.
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And actually, it depended on what you did for a living as to how far you traveled in the early days. Farmers, for instance - that is my heritage - did not have to travel far. Their commute was simply out to their fields. Perhaps they traveled via the local waterways - those were often the "freeways" of that era - to earn their living. Some of those commutes were short, and people did easily come home at night. All I'm saying is that times were different - you really can't say that just because someone did "x" in an earlier era that we should do the same thing today. People also died at much younger ages then, so many people did not have the concern of a long "commute" as they got into mid life - they did not live that long.
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@PrairieDawn They're redundant because I ask this guy questions and he doesn't answer.
 @Silvia You're kidding me right? People have had to travel far for work before the 1900's and in some instances never made it back. Also I would to point out that not all family lived close unless they were in colonies such as the Mennonites, Hudderites and plains Indians as examples. Not sure where you got your ideas from but history tells it differently.Â
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Also what works for you, doesn't work for others. I believe that n9078jk4 was just being helpful in what works best for him. Furd is right, you don't have to defend yourself. I like the idea of living off the grid and not paying absurd amounts of money, fees, and more fees up the ying-yang for services. Wells, Electric powered bikes, solar power etc, I am down for it. If you aren't that's your choice. n9078jk4 didn't crap all over your life choices, so don't do it to him. Also, 90% of your posts are redundant (repetitive in case you don't know what that means). We get it, you have family to take care of, your husband has a job in Everett.Â
 @n9078jk4 That's fine. You do your thing - it does sound awfully extreme - and let others live the way they want to...how did you say you heat your home? I must have missed that fascinating little detail.
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 @Furd Thank you! I actually think we do a fairly good job of taking care of creation, but we recognize that we have to live also. Helping our siblings meet the needs of our parents is part of that...although now that I think of it, I sort of giggle when I think of squishing my 5'6" mother into a bike trailer, and packing the groceries in around her! I'd have to be careful to not muss her hair do!
 @n9078jk4  @Silvia  @jenshens Not necessarily. My husband telecommutes during bad weather. If times got tough, he would simply do that most of the time. At any rate, what you are envisioning is a future (if ever) thing. I'm not going to start riding my bike through storms now just in case something happens in the future.
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What does your wife think of this? Does she maintain a car free lifestyle also? Do you ever see your children/grandchildren, and the rest of your family?
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 @Silvia You don't have to justify your lifestyle to anyone. Since I have retired I find that I rarely drive more than 4,000 miles a year and most of the time it is considerably less. I gave my bicycle away at least fifteen years ago because it was just too scary to ride on the public roads with some of the nutcases driving. You're a good daughter taking care of your elderly parents, I did the same while they were living and it allowed me some quality time that I didn't get as a child.
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You have nothing to be ashamed of and you can have the 6,000 miles I don't drive every year to offset your carbon footprint.
I should add - sure, I combine trips and errands. That's a no brainer. But I'm not going to give up evening visits to friends, or not be ready to help our elderly relatives because I want to be car free. That isn't realistic, and it seems a bit selfish. It sounds like you live a really limited life - not for everyone.
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Yes, cars have only been around since the early 1900s. But if you think about it, people didn't have to travel far to work, families were closer together. Transportation needs were different (I don't *think* Safeway will let me tie my horse outside their store).
@n9078jk4 @jenshens What is your family situation? Do you have children to cart around? Elderly parents that need help with transportation? Are you single? I ask that because when I was single, I went through less food, etc - grocery shopping once a month would've been doable. And of course, I don't live within 10 miles of grocery stores, as you do, apparently. My husband drives 60 miles *each* way to work (that is on the freeways; taking a bike friendly route would be much further) - you might do that on your electric powered bike (which isn't exactly off the grid, since it's electric powered!), but he isn't going to do that. We are not going to move closer to his work because we'd lose money on the move, we like our home out here, and for other reasons.
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How did you say you heat your home?
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Again, we heat with wood heat. Our choice, and although it is a way in which we are off the grid and self sufficient, we know that it isn't for everyone. I'm not going to preach wood heat to you (and others) because I recognize that not everyone wants to make the lifestyle adjustments necessary to do that.. That's okay. We all make our own life choices. You make yours - to be car free - and in my home, we make our choice to heat with firewood.
 @n9078jk4 How many children do you have?
@jenshens Not attacks. Just asking questions about how I - or others - could expect to live car free. Honestly. If this poster could tell me how I could be car free and meet my family obligations (shuttling my frail, elderly parents around Puget Sound - to medical appointments, to get their groceries, etc), then I would happily go car free. But so far I don't have an answer to that. Perhaps you do?
@n9078jk4 @Silvia    n90, thank you for your most civil and informative reply to Silvia's attacks. And thank you for being one of the intelligent humans among so many who are not..........
@n9078jk4 You know, that's lovely. Indeed. But I don't care about "saving the earth" if it means I'm going to lose my life riding 1/2 hour out to our country home on a dark, stormy night with my trailer loaded with groceries (oops - that's 1/2 hour driving a car - I have no clue how long it would take on a bike). I also don't give a rip about riding my bike through storms/sleet/snow (yep, we get them all out here in the country) to run errands and still be safe and *clean* when I stop to visit my family after running errands in North King County.
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Just because I heat my home exclusively with wood heat doesn't mean that I expect others to do the same. Most people can not do that. I understand. Perhaps you should get off your high horse about bike riding and recognize that although it works for you, it isn't going to work for everyone - and that's okay.
@n9078jk4 So do you suggest that my husband commute by bicycle to work? Should we load our elderly parents into a trailer, attach it to our bicycles, and trundle them around when they need transportation assistance? My dad might view the trip as an adventure, but it probably wouldn't work so well for my 85 year old mother - arthritis and fragile bones, you know.  Should I ride my bicycle to North King County (1.5 hours by car) for the errand I need to do there this week? Am I, a woman, going to be safe when I ride my bicycle to downtown Seattle for an evening concert? You may live such a sheltered life that these issues don't impact you, but for many people, cars are the only way to go.
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Incidentally, how do you heat your home?
Residents of New York and New Jersey were warned at least a week before the storm hit they should fill their vehicles with gas and get some cash since the power would likely be out for some time afterwards. Â Some people just don't listen.
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@n9078jk4 @Bongo Mawongo The truth about hurricane Katrina is not that cut and dried. If you are interested there's a great book called "The Great Deluge" by Douglas Brinkley that gives great detail about what happened before, during, and after that storm. You might be surprised at some of the things people weren't told and how that all unfolded.
The problem isn't that we are short on gas. Â The problem is that people go chaotic when they can't get it.
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Imagine what would happen in a national gas shortage/crisis. Â
 @Landshark We did have a national gas shortage/crisis. Remember Carter?
 @Gino  @Landshark Actually, the '73/'74 Arab Oil Embargo gas shortage took place when Dick Nixon was President.
 @Gino But I wonder, are we more or less reliant on fossil fuels today than we were when Carter was president?
Its not like the people weren't warned. Only the idiots that didn't pay attention to the warning and didn't prepare are screaming. The government can not do your job for you. If you didn't stock up on supplies and fill the cars with gas before the storm hit then just tough it out.
 @Blindman Harsh, but true.
Weary, yes. But what happens if they have another damaging storm this year as another one has not been ruled out?Â
A bunch of random thoughts:
I wonder how many people will be fired from the hospitals for not having the emergency generators in proper working order beforehand?
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OK, I can see not canceling the marathon before Sandy hit, because you never know what's REALLY going to happen - but the day after it hit it was obvious to EVERYONE except the people in charge that it should be canceled. So, what does that say about the thought process of the people in charge?
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Why do people always say something like "Thank God" when the power comes back on? Why not "thank the coal companies and line workers!", who have a rather more direct roll in things?
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Why do people in the news stories run out of food, water, and every essential, in a couple of days? I don't know ANY adult that has a clue that doesn't keep at least a couple of weeks worth of dry and canned goods on hand, and a couple days worth of fresh stuff that'll last two days with out refrigeration... Wait, I think I answered my own question with that "adult" and "clue" part of things....
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Why do so many gas stations not have backup generators for their pumps? Makes no sense - they are not THAT expensive.
 @RN1 "Why do people always say something like "Thank God" when the power comes back on? Why not "thank the coal companies and line workers!", who have a rather more direct roll in things?"
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As someone that used to work for an electric utility I can answer that. Far too many people have no idea of where electricity comes from nor the people whose job it is to operate and maintain the generation stations and the distribution facilities. To these people there are no wires, it is all magic.
 @Furd Sadly, I think that is true of FAR too many people on far too many items essential for modern life, from power to gas and gasoline, water, sewage, food anywhere between farm and store, and all the items on the store shelves. No concept of how all the stuff gets there.
 @RN1 And the always brilliant "Odd-Even" gasoline rationing. No WAY can that be circumvented. Ah, the memories of Carter...
 @Sid Vishess  @RN1 Nixon.  Try using Google to confirm.