11/01/2012
Sandy power outages could last 10 more days; new storm builds
| Msnbc's Thomas Roberts takes a look at aerial shots of massive bus lines and snarled traffic in New York City as the subway remains flooded in lower Manhattan, where CNBC's Scott Cohn reports. By Miguel Llanos, NBC News Hundreds of thousands of people in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey may not have their power return for up to 10 more days, officials warned Thursday. Meanwhile, weather forecasters said a winter storm could hit the Northeast next week. In New York City, the utility ConEd said the 228,000 customers in Manhattan still without power should have it back by Saturday, but that would leave more than 400,000 elsewhere potentially in the dark beyond Saturday. In a statement Thursday, ConEd said it hoped the vast majority of those would have power by Nov. 11. The areas taking the longest, spokeswoman Sara Banda told NBCNews.com, are those with overhead lines. "It's taking a bit longer," she said, noting that crews have had to deal with 100,000 downed lines. As for the potential for a new storm, Banda said ConEd has a team dealing with weather scenarios. "We're going to have to take that into account," she said. ConEd also noted that many buildings in areas with restored service will continue to be without power until they repair any flood damage to their own electrical systems. Lows this weekend in the New York City area were expected to dip to the mid-30s, and hover around 40 during the week. The outlook was similar along the Jersey coast as well as on Long Island, where 60 percent of homes were without power. The region also struggled with transit on Thursday, three days after Superstorm Sandy tore through. The promise of limited restoration of transit services lured hundreds of thousands back into the nation's largest city, but the commute was nightmarish even by New York City's standards: Seemingly endless lines at bus stops, backups at the city's bridges and tunnels stretched for miles, and many people simply gave up after an hour or two of frustration.  Jason DeCrow / AP Motorists sit in heavy traffic while crossing the Robert F. Kennedy Triboro Bridge Thursday in the Queens borough of New York. The scene was "pure mayhem," Lanisha Harris, who was trying to get to work in Manhattan from Canarsie, Brooklyn, told NBCNewYork.com. The order that all vehicles entering Manhattan must have at least three occupants appeared to cut down on traffic in the city, but enforcement of the directive caused problems elsewhere. At the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel, traffic from New Jersey was restricted to a single lane and cars with fewer than three people were being diverted, causing a backup that jammed the state's northern highways. "Safety is our paramount concern, not convenience," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday in defending his order. In downtown Brooklyn, "easily a thousand people, possibly more" were in line at the Barclay's Center Thursday morning waiting for public buses, NBC 4 New York reporter Kai Simonsen said from his helicopter viewpoint. That led some people to try to hitchhike their way into Manhattan, with drivers eager to pick them up to make the three-person-per-car quota. "Some folks offered me a ride," said Melanie Bower, 30, who lives in Fort Greene. "I was touched by their kindness at first. But then I realized they just needed me so they could have three in their car." Bower walked into Manhattan instead, and then caught a bus uptown. Related: Photoblog of the commuter chaos Wednesday evening's commute out of the city was bad as well, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare that subway, bus and commuter rail services would be free Thursday and Friday. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports from Hoboken, N.J., where chilling new images capture communities utterly destroyed; meanwhile, thousands still remain trapped in the region without water, power or heat. After suffering the worst disaster in its 108-year-old history, subway services resumed at 6 a.m. ET Thursday on more than a dozen lines, supplemented by three bus shuttles. "There will be no subway service between 34th St. in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn," the MTA website said. Across the city, the scene remained chaotic:
In Jersey City, across the Hudson River from New York, drivers negotiated intersections without the aid of traffic lights. Lines formed outside pharmacies, while people piled sodden mattresses and furniture on sidewalks. The city has issued a curfew on people as well as a driving ban from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. In the wake of the superstorm, people are banding together across New York City and New Jersey, offering power, food and even Halloween fun to their neighbors who have been devastated by wind and floods. NBC's Jenna Bush Hager reports. Most of New Jersey's mass transit systems remained shut down, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters braving clogged highways and quarter-mile lines at gas stations. Power was still out to 4.5 million homes and businesses in 14 states -- and 3.2 million of those were in New Jersey and New York. Five massive U.S. military C-5s and 12 C-17s were flying 61 electrical repair vehicles from California to New York on Thursday to help stressed line crews. The remnants of Sandy, meanwhile, dissipated over Canada. But the storm system, which killed at least 63 people in the U.S., could still dump yet a bit more snow in the Appalachians. Most of Sandy's flood waters on New York City's streets have receded, but much of the water beneath the streets remains trapped. TODAY's Savannah Guthrie met with Roger Less of the Army Corps of Engineers to talk about the task of drying out the underground. On New York's Long Island, bulldozers scooped sand off streets and tow trucks hauled away destroyed cars, while residents tried to find a way to their homes to restart their lives. Full coverage of Sandy from NBC News In New Jersey, signs of the good life that had defined wealthy shorefront enclaves like Bayhead and Mantoloking lay scattered and broken: $3,000 barbecue grills buried beneath the sand and hot tubs cracked and filled with seawater, the Associated Press reported. Nearly all the homes were seriously damaged, and many had entirely disappeared. "This," said Harry Typaldos, who owns the Grenville Inn in Mantoloking, "I just can't comprehend."  / Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast. Atlantic City's casinos remained closed. Farther north in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, nearly 20,000 residents remained stranded in their homes, amid accusations that officials have been slow to deliver food and water. One man blew up an air mattress and floated to City Hall, demanding to know why supplies hadn't gotten out, the Associated Press reported. At least one-fourth of the city's residents are flooded and 90 percent are without power. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. More content from NBCNews.com:
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'Pure mayhem' as New York City tries to get back to work
| NBC's Kerry Sanders reports from Yonkers, N.Y,, where an aerial view of the New York City region shows a traffic nightmare as officials set up checkpoints to make sure every vehicle has at least three passengers before they are allowed into the city. By Miguel Llanos, NBC News The promise of limited restoration of transit services lured hundreds of thousands back into the nation's largest city Thursday, but the commute was nightmarish even by New York City's standards: Seemingly endless lines at bus stops, backups at the city's bridges and tunnels stretched for miles, and many people simply gave up after an hour or two of frustration.  Seth Wenig / AP Commuters wait in a line in Brooklyn, N.Y., to board buses into Manhattan on Thursday. The scene was "pure mayhem," Lanisha Harris, who was trying to get to work in Manhattan from Canarsie, Brooklyn, told NBCNewYork.com in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The order that all vehicles entering Manhattan must have at least three occupants appeared to cut down on traffic in the city, but enforcement of the directive caused problems elsewhere. At the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel, traffic from New Jersey was restricted to a single lane and cars with fewer than three people were being diverted, causing a backup that jammed the state's northern highways. In downtown Brooklyn, "easily a thousand people, possibly more" were in line at the Barclay's Center waiting for public buses, according to WNBC reporter Kai Simonson. That led some people to try to hitchhike their way into Manhattan, with drivers eager to pick them up to make the three-person-per-car quota. Related: Photoblog of the commuter chaos "Some folks offered me a ride," said Melanie Bower, 30, who lives in Fort Greene. "I was touched by their kindness at first. But then I realized they just needed me so they could have three in their car." Bower walked into Manhattan instead, and then caught a bus uptown. Wednesday evening's commute out of the city was bad as well, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare that subway, bus and commuter rail services would be free Thursday and Friday. After suffering the worst disaster in its 108-year-old history, subway services resumed at 6 a.m. ET Thursday on more than a dozen lines, supplemented by three bus shuttles. "There will be no subway service between 34th St. in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn," the MTA website said. Across the city, the scene remained chaotic:
Power was still out to 4.5 million homes and businesses in 14 states -- and 3.2 million of those were in New Jersey and New York. The remnants of Superstorm Sandy, meanwhile, dissipated over Canada. But the storm system, which killed at least 63 people in the U.S., could still dump yet more snow in the Appalachians. "The last of its effects are winding down along the Appalachian Mountains," the National Weather Service said, adding that several more inches of snow were possible in some areas of West Virginia and Maryland. "The cleanup can begin." On New York's Long Island, bulldozers scooped sand off streets and tow trucks hauled away destroyed cars, while residents tried to find a way to their homes to restart their lives. Joanne and Richard Kalb used a rowboat to reach their home in Mastic Beach, filled with 3 feet of water. Her husband, exasperated by the futility of their effort, posted a sign on a telephone pole, asking drivers to slow down: "Slow please no wake." In New Jersey, President Barack Obama joined Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday to tour the ravaged coast and promised to get the cleanup moving. "We are here for you," Obama said in Brigantine, N.J. "We are not going to tolerate red tape. We are not going to tolerate bureaucracy." The president was to resume campaigning Thursday after a three-day hiatus. Full coverage of Sandy from NBC News Signs of the good life that had defined wealthy shorefront enclaves like Bayhead and Mantoloking lay scattered and broken: $3,000 barbecue grills buried beneath the sand and hot tubs cracked and filled with seawater, the Associated Press reported. Nearly all the homes were seriously damaged, and many had entirely disappeared. "This," said Harry Typaldos, who owns the Grenville Inn in Mantoloking, "I just can't comprehend." Most of New Jersey's mass transit systems remained shut down, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters braving clogged highways and quarter-mile lines at gas stations. Atlantic City's casinos remained closed. Christie postponed Halloween until Monday, saying trick-or-treating wasn't safe in towns with flooded and darkened streets, fallen trees and downed power lines. Farther north in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, nearly 20,000 residents remained stranded in their homes, amid accusations that officials have been slow to deliver food and water. One man blew up an air mattress and floated to City Hall, demanding to know why supplies hadn't gotten out, the Associated Press reported. At least one-fourth of the city's residents are flooded and 90 percent are without power. The Associated Press contributed to this report. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Former Penn State president to be charged, sources tell NBC
| Sources tell NBC News that state prosecutors have prepared charges against Graham Spanier, Penn State's former longtime president, as well as more charges for two ex-school officials who have already been indicted. They are accused of lying to a grand jury and trying to cover up the sex-abuse scandal involving convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports. By Michael Isikoff, NBC News Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and state Police Commissioner Frank Noonan have scheduled a news conference in the state capital of Harrisburg to announce what the sources describe as a major new development in the case. It comes nearly one year after Sandusky, Penn State's former defensive coordinator, was arrested and charged with repeatedly abusing young boys dating back to 1996, setting off one of the biggest scandals in the history of college sports. Sandusky, the longtime deputy to the school's late legendary coach, Joe Paterno was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse last June and was recently sentenced to 30 to 60 years in state prison. In addition to the charges against Spanier, who served as Penn State's president for 16 years until he was fired last November, prosecutors have also prepared new charges against former top school officials who have already been indicted, ex-athletic director Tim Curley and ex-vice president Gary Schultz, who oversaw the state police. The charges against all three are based in part on evidence uncovered in a report last summer by former FBI director Louis Freeh. These included emails in which the ex-officials appeared to agree not to report to child welfare authorities a 2001 allegation by former graduate assistant Mike McQuearey that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the Penn State shower room. Freeh said the emails show that Curley, Schultz and Spanier at first agreed to report the McQuearey allegation to child welfare authorities, but that Curley later changed his mind "after talking it over with Joe" -- a reference to Paterno. They then developed a new plan to encourage Sandusky to seek professional help, according to the Freeh report. "This approach is acceptable to me," Spanier wrote in a Feb. 27, 2001 email to Curley and Schultz. The only downside for us if the message isnt 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it. But that can be assessed down the road. The approach you outline and a reasonable way to proceed." Full coverage of the Sandusky trial Spanier, the lawyers for Curley, and Schultz -- and the family of Paterno -- have all denounced the Freeh report as biased and said the emails were taken out of context. Spanier has said he was only told Sandusky was "horsing around" with the young boy in the locker room and, in a press conference last August, one of his lawyers called the Freeh report a "blundering and indefensible indictment." Spanier's lawyers are planning to make a statement about the matter later today, one of his lawyers told NBC News. More content from NBCNews.com:
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New York trick-or-treaters defy Sandy
 Andrew Kelly / Reuters Lisa and Julia Kravchenko pose in their Halloween costumes as they stand in an area ruined by Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, New York, on October 31, 2012. Mega-storm Sandy played Wicked Witch on Wednesday, postponing Halloween for millions of disappointed East Coast children warned not to trick or treat amid dangling electrical wires and trees uprooted by the deadly weather, Reuters reports. But the lingering effects of the deadly storm didn't stop all the fun, as these pictures show.  Peter Foley / EPA New York City residents light jack-o'-lanterns made from cut out pumpkins on Hudson Street in lower Manhattan, October 31, 2012. Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to much of lower Manhattan and has forced many residents to seek shelter in other parts of the city.  Adrees Latif / Reuters Revellers dressed up for Halloween share a laugh in Times Square, New York in the early hours of November 1, 2012.  John Minchillo / AP Lisa Kravchenko stands amongst flood debris in her princess Halloween costume on Oct. 31, 2012 in Staten Island.  Richard Drew / AP Commuters, including one man dressed for Halloween, cross New York's Brooklyn Bridge on Oct. 31, 2012. Share your photos with us We want to see the people that helped you during this time of crisis. Post pictures on Twitter or Instagram by tagging them #NBCNewsPics or upload photos using the form below. Use the caption or Tweet to explain why the person is a hero. Click here for more information. |
Subway lines reopen as NYC gets back on feet
| New York City's transport system was getting back on its feet Thursday as the remnants of superstorm Sandy dissipated over Canada. But the storm system, which killed at least 63 people in the U.S., could still dump yet more snow in the Appalachian Mountains, the National Weather Service said. "The last of its effects are winding down along the Appalachian Mountains," the National Weather Service said on its website, saying several more inches of snow were possible in some areas of West Virginia and Maryland. "The cleanup can begin." Sandy devastated the coast from West Virginia to New Jersey. But while miles of ruined shorefront will take some time to repair, New York City appeared to be closer to getting back to its normal frenetic pace. Undamaged parts of the New York City subway network began operating Thursday and the city's LaGuardia Airport was also re-opening. However, the FlightAware website said more than 300 flights out of the three main NYC airports and at least 226 flights in were canceled Thursday. After "gridlock" in the metropolitan area Wednesday – which Governor Andrew Cuomo described as a "transportation emergency" in a statement on the MTA website – he announced subway, bus and commuter rail services would be free Thursday and Friday. The subway shutdown and accidents due to inoperative traffic signals that closed intersections led to transport chaos Wednesday. Packed buses sped past lines stretching around entire city blocks. Slideshow: Sandy slams into East Coast (on this page)Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered that only cars carrying three or more people would be allowed into the city across four East Side bridges Thursday. After suffering the worst disaster in its 108-year-old history, subway services resumed at 6 a.m. ET Thursday on more than a dozen lines, supplemented by three bus shuttles. "There will be no subway service between 34th St. in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn," the MTA website said. Video: NYC power outage divides the city (on this page)The Staten Island Railway service remained suspended due to "extensive damage" there, and downtown Manhattan was still mostly an urban landscape of shuttered bodegas and boarded-up restaurants, where people roamed in search of food, power and a hot shower. On New York's Long Island, bulldozers scooped sand off streets and tow trucks hauled away destroyed cars, while residents tried to find a way to their homes to restart their lives. Joanne and Richard Kalb used a rowboat to reach their home in Mastic Beach, filled with 3 feet of water. Her husband, exasperated by the futility of their effort, posted a sign on a telephone pole, asking drivers to slow down: "Slow please no wake." Video: Dramatic aerials of Breezy Point (on this page)In New Jersey, President Barack Obama joined Republican Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday to tour the ravaged coast and promised to get the cleanup moving. "We are here for you," Obama said in Brigantine, N.J. "We are not going to tolerate red tape. We are not going to tolerate bureaucracy." The president was to resume campaigning Thursday after a three-day hiatus. Full coverage of Sandy from NBC News Signs of the good life that had defined wealthy shorefront enclaves like Bayhead and Mantoloking lay scattered and broken: $3,000 barbecue grills buried beneath the sand and hot tubs cracked and filled with seawater. Nearly all the homes were seriously damaged, and many had entirely disappeared. "This," said Harry Typaldos, who owns the Grenville Inn in Mantoloking, "I just can't comprehend." Video: How will Sandy affect voting? (on this page)Most of the state's mass transit systems remained shut down, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters braving clogged highways and quarter-mile lines at gas stations. Atlantic City's casinos remained closed. Christie postponed Halloween until Monday, saying trick-or-treating wasn't safe in towns with flooded and darkened streets, fallen trees and downed power lines. Farther north in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, nearly 20,000 residents remained stranded in their homes, amid accusations that officials have been slow to deliver food and water. One man blew up an air mattress and floated to City Hall, demanding to know why supplies hadn't gotten out. At least one-fourth of the city's residents are flooded and 90 percent are without power. In West Virginia, snow drifts as high as 5 feet were piled up. Heavy snow collapsed parts of an apartment complex, a grocery store, a hardwood plant and three homes. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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