Update from Governor Cuomo on Relief Effort

At city hall on Saturday afternoon, Governor Cuomo described the damage by Hurricane Sandy; “We have not seen this kind of damage in a generation.”  

Both before and after the storm, state police have been deployed to Long Island. “After the storm, we came in with some heavy resources, including three swift water rescue teams, three helicopters complete with crews and throughout the week have beefed up our resources in Nassau County to assist Long Beach and county police,” said Joseph D’Amico, superintendent of New York State Police.  

Currently, there are between 250-300 state police officers on the ground in Nassau County. The primary function of the state police is anti-crime and anti-looting patrols. They will remain in the area for as long as they are needed.  

“Our message to Nassau County is clear, if looters come here, you will be caught and punished to the full extent of the law,” said County Executive Ed Mangano.  

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, said that the National Guard would distribute one million meals for people in need.  

Governor Cuomo conveyed that New York State is putting all of its resources toward the damage of Hurricane Sandy. “We authorized $100 million in state funding to begin to flow to the people who have been victimized by the storm.”  

According to LIPA, 1.2 million of its customers lost power from the storm and there are 550,000 people still without power. A Long Beach resident of the canals had her home damaged from the storm and asked the governor when Long Beach could expect to have power once again.  

Governor Cuomo promised that he would hold New York’s power companies, including LIPA, responsible for their performance. “They [the power companies] are very good at telling you that you did not pay your bill, we are going to be just as good at telling them when they did not get the power on, they will be held accountable.”  

The people of Long Beach have spoken out about their frustration with the lack of power. “It does not matter how many people have gotten their power back until you get your power back. We understand that are going to be working until every New Yorker gets their power back, period,” said the Governor.  

To say that gas lines in New York and New Jersey are long is an understatement. The wait for gas at the Hess station in Island Park could be around two hours and the line went over the bridge and into Long Beach.    

The Coast Guard closed New York Harbor after the storm because there was a lot of debris in the harbor. There was a fear that another disaster could occur if an oil tanker hit some of that debris.  

The Harbor was opened Friday morning so fuel could finally be delivered. On Saturday the federal government sent emergency deliveries of fuel to the New York Metro area.    

“We have 28 million gallons coming in over the next two days, so you will quickly see an easing in the fuel situation,” said the governor.  

The recovery and rebuilding process is not something that can be done overnight and officials recognize this. “I would like to say that this will be over tomorrow; it’s not, but things will bet getting back to normal and slowly we will rebuild,“ Cuomo declared.  

Cuomo noted the kindness and generosity of New Yorkers throughout this week. “Nobody comes together the way we do. We are seeing that right now at this time and it makes me so proud to be a New Yorker.”