One parallel: A late evacuation order. Even before the storm struck, weatherblogger Brendan Loy — famous for calling for early evacuation of New Orleans before Katrina struck — criticizing Mayor Bloomberg for not ordering early or extensive enough evacuations in New York, and for making the “ignorant” statement that Sandy wouldn’t be as bad as a hurricane…
After Sandy struck, some areas did worse than others, and FEMA — as with Katrina — got bad press. Manhattan was hit hard, but the outer boroughs suffered more. Staten Island residents say they were forgotten by relief efforts and one press report called the island “a giant mud puddle of dead dreams.” Adding insult to injury, when another nor’easter approached the area FEMA closed its Staten Island office “due to weather.” Time called it “the island that New York City forgot.” Rudy Giuliani called FEMA’s performance “as bad as Katrina.”
TONY DIGIROLAMO
THE PEOPLE IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY NEED OUR HELP. CHURCHES ALL OVER THE NATION ARE GATHERING ESSENTIALS, CLOTHING AND MONEY TO SET UP SOUP AND FOOD KITCHENS FOR SURVIVORS.
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Sunday morning, Rock Church put out the call to its congregation for donations of items that would help victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York. Hours later, the donations started to line up and pile up.
"We're working with a group out of Brooklyn that's working all throughout the Manhattan area and, also, working with another group in Long Island," Pastor John Blanchard told 13News. "We're doing everything we can to make a difference. There's people who are hurting. There's people who are desperate, and so we're trying to get them the relief they need as fast as possible."
