Hurricane Sandy

I've been following Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath for the last five days.  Staten Island and portions of the Jersey shore seem to be particularly hard hit.  Rebuilding those areas will take somewhere between months and years.  Flooding seems to be the worst type of disaster in terms of property damage.  Not only will a mass of moving water pull a house off its foundations and reduce it to matchsticks, but the flood waters will also deposit huge amounts of sand and muck.  That all needs to be cleared away, along with the rubble, before rebuilding can even begin.

Manhattan's problems seem relatively minor by comparison.  Pump the water out of the tunnels and subways,   dry out, repair or replace electrical systems, and turn the grid back on.  Unsurprisingly, Manhattan is coming back to normal far faster then some of the outlying areas.

People were patient about the situation for about one day after the storm.  Now the griping has started, and is increasing in volume.  I would hope I have the patience to endure a week without power, but you never know how you'll react until you've been tested.  Here in Tornado Alley, I get annoyed if the power goes off for more than a couple of hours, so I don't know if I would have the equanimity to sit tight for a week with no lights, refrigeration, running water, or flush toilets.

What amazes me is that Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, sent a threatening letter to the utility companies.  He threatened them if they don't get the lights on fast enough to suit him.

What a ridiculous thing to do!  Everything from compassion, to professional ethos, to sound business reasons is pushing the utilities to do the best job they can.  Instead of offering help, the governor threatens to pull their operating permits.  He turned a technical problem into political grandstanding.