 Andrew Burton / Getty Images The lights of New York's Lower East Side and East Village neighborhoods are seen next to the Williamsburg Bridge Friday night from the Brooklyn borough of New York City. By NBC News staff and wire reports Power was restored to lower Manhattan and some other areas overnight and Saturday, but it was still lights out for 2.5 million homes and businesses as temperatures were dipping into the 20s in communities like hard-hit Rockaway and the entire region braced itself for a potential nor'easter next week. Overnight lows will be around 28 degrees F in Rockaway, 38 in New York City and 33 on parts of Long Island, NBCNewYork.com reported. Even in areas with temps above 30, 15-20 mph winds will make it feel like it's in the 20s. Temperatures Sunday and Monday were expected to be even colder before rising again on Tuesday. Chances for a slow-moving nor'easter, meanwhile, are "increasing," the National Weather Service's prediction center said in a Saturday morning update. Expected to be felt in the Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday, the storm would not be anywhere as destructive as Superstorm Sandy, but could cause some new erosion and hinder recovery efforts. "The general impacts will include another round of brisk winds, rainfall and chilly temperatures for the recovery areas along the coast," weather.com winter weather expert Tom Niziol posted in a Saturday update. View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com. He expected 1-2 inches of rain in coastal areas and 25-30 mph gusts on Wednesday, adding that the forecast could change. "We do not expect the impacts to 'break anything that is not already broken'," he added. "However the combination of weather impacts will add insult to injury for the recovery process along the East Coast." The U.S. death toll reached 109 on Friday, after Sandy killed 69 people as a hurricane in the Caribbean. It struck the New Jersey coast on Monday as a rare hybrid after the hurricane merged with a powerful storm system in the north Atlantic. Consolidated Edison, a utility battling what it called the worst natural disaster in its history, restored electricity to New York City neighborhoods such as Wall Street, Chinatown and Greenwich Village in the pre-dawn hours. The Home Depot has sent 5,000 truckloads of supplies into the East Coast since last Tuesday. Getting essentials to stores in ravaged communities takes a team of people working in what they call a "War Room." NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports. But some 11,000 customers in Manhattan were still without power. "There's enough light and activity to get a lot of people on the street and get rid of that movie-set look as if we're in some kind of ghost town or horror movie," Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee told NY1 television. In New Jersey, the utility PSE&G said 612,000 customers were still without lights after power to 1 million had been restored. Con Ed said it had restored power to 70 percent of the 916,000 customers in the New York City area who were cut off. The company was still busy assisting tens of thousands more without power in New York City's outer boroughs, where some people complained of being ignored. With collapsed roads and destroyed homes along the New York area shore, the changes have altered the coastline and accelerated beach erosion. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports. Read more Sandy coverage on NBCNews.com "We have nobody down here with video coverage," said Grace Lane, a grandmother who defied evacuation orders and rode out the storm in her second-story bedroom as water rushed through the first floor of her house in Broad Channel, a community in Queens. Eight people -- Lane, her husband, their two daughters, their husbands and her two grandchildren -- were sleeping on air mattresses on the floor of the upstairs bedroom, the last usable room in the house. "At least my children are OK," she said. In a city devastated by Sandy, holding a race through five battered boroughs just seemed like the wrong idea, according to officials. "I think there's a thin line between demonstrating resilience and being insensitive," one runner said. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports. Many houses were gutted by 5 feet of floodwater that raced through Broad Channel, where residents hauled broken furniture and soggy belongings out of their homes on Friday. In a sign of security worries in the neighborhood, one garage full of debris stood open with a sign next to it reading: "LOOTERS WILL BE CRUCIFIED - GOD HELP YOU." Moving to ease fuel shortages, the Obama administration directed the purchase of up to 12 million gallons of unleaded fuel and 10 million gallons of diesel, to be trucked to New York and New Jersey for distribution. With hundreds displaced by the storm, crucial necessities are being supplied to those hit hardest by Sandy by FEMA, the Red Cross and the National Guard. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports. The government announced it would tap strategic reserves for diesel for emergency responders and waived rules that barred foreign-flagged ships from taking gas, diesel and other products from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeast ports. The moves could help to quell anger triggered by growing lines -- some of them miles long -- at gas stations. Less than half of the stations in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey were operating on Friday. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ordered gas rationing in 12 counties to begin on Saturday under an "odd-even" system in which motorists with license plates ending in odd numbers would be able to buy gas on odd-numbered days. Experts say flooding in the Big Apple can be prevented in the future by building seawalls, levees or gigantic surge barriers. NBC's Richard Engel reports. Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated Sandy caused up to $20 billion in insured losses and $50 billion in economic losses. At the high end of the range, it would rank as the fourth costliest U.S. catastrophe, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the September 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.  Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast. More content from NBCNews.com:
 |
11/03/2012
Temps in 20s, power still out for many after Sandy
Free gas among actions to ease Sandy shortage
| Lines are long and open gas stations are few and far between in New York and New Jersey, as drivers wait to fill up their tanks. NBC's Katy Tur reports. By Miguel Llanos, NBC News New Jersey began rationing gasoline on Saturday, while New York said supplies were improving and that some would even get free fuel -- courtesy of the Department of Defense. "Fuel is on the way," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference Saturday. Five mobile fuel stations operated by the military will have gasoline in New York City and Long Island by Saturday afternoon, albeit with a 10 gallon limit. "The good news," Cuomo said of the promised 12 million gallons, "is it's going to be free." The reopening of New York Harbor, he added, has provided 8 million gallons of fuel and another 28 million will be delivered over the next two days. The moves could help to quell anger triggered by growing lines -- some of them miles long -- at gas stations. Tempers flared as people camped out all night, waiting for their turn at the pump in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. NBC's Tom Costello reports. Less than half of the stations in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey were operating on Friday due to power outages or lack of fuel. Lines of cars and people on foot carrying bright red cans have been waiting for hours for precious fuel. Others have given up after finding only closed stations or dry pumps marked with yellow tape or "No Gas" signs. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie on Friday ordered gas rationing in 12 counties to begin on Saturday under an "odd-even" system in which motorists with license plates ending in odd numbers would be able to buy gas on odd-numbered days. More content from NBCNews.com:
|
Girls hurt in Malala attack to be honored
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two Pakistani girls who were injured in an attack that nearly took the life of their classmate, schoolgirl activist Malala Yousufzai, are to be honored with a medal of courage, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday. Kainat Riaz Ahmed and Shazia Ramzan were both hurt in the ambush on October 9, when armed thugs stopped their school van in the Taliban-held Swat Valley. The medal, known as Sitara-e- jurrat, or star of courage, is the third highest military award in Pakistan and is not normally given to civilians. The militants' target, Malala, was well-known for her efforts to encourage her fellow Pakistanis to stand up to the Taliban, who have been trying to push girls from classrooms. The attack prompted anger against the Taliban and an outpouring of support for Malala, both in Pakistan, where thousands rallied in her name, and internationally. Speaking to CNN from her hospital bed a week after the attack, Kainat, who was shot in the upper right arm, echoed Malala's message. "I want to tell all the girls to continue their mission to get an education," Kainat told CNN. "Girls' education here is more important than boys' because boys can do any sort of work. However, girls can't just do any sort of job. Girls must have respectful jobs so that they can feel secure." And the 16-year-old said she had no regrets about defying a group that wants to stop girls from learning. "God willing, I will continue my education," she said. On Monday, Malik visited the British hospital where Malala was flown for treatment days after she was shot in the head. She has made good progress since her transfer, but medical staff have said she has a long road ahead to a full recovery. She is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery to her skull once she is strong enough. Malik said he hoped Malala would recover soon and that her family would support her in this difficult time. The family is not settling in the United Kingdom but remains there while Malala is recovering, he added. Malik said Saturday that the government was very close to catching Ihsanullah Ihsan, the spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban. The Taliban, who claimed responsibility for the attack, issued a statement online saying that if Malala lived, they would come after her again. Police said this week they suspect two boys of being behind the attack but did not name them. They are also seeking a man they say drove the youths to the van. Malik identified the adult suspect as Attah Ullah Khan, 23, but he did not name the boys. Khan is a masters' chemistry student, police said. CNN's Rezah Sayah contributed to this report.  |
Electricity slowly restored to lower Manhattan
| By NBC News staff and wire reports The lower Manhattan skyline lit up early Saturday morning for the first time since superstorm Sandy slammed into the U.S. Northeast while thousands of storm victims in New Jersey and elsewhere remained in the dark and awaiting disaster relief. The power restoration came as gasoline supplies headed to coastal zones devastated by the record storm surge and to motorists whose patience has been tested by gasoline rationing during the painstaking effort to rebuild. With the U.S. presidential election just three days away, about 3 million homes and business remained without power in a region choked with storm debris and long gas lines reminiscent of the 1970s-era U.S. fuel shortage. Angry storm victims wondered when their lives would return to normal. President Barack Obama won early praise for the federal response to Sandy, which hammered the U.S. northeast coast on Monday with 80 mile-per-hour winds and a record surge of seawater that swamped homes in New Jersey and flooded streets and subway tunnels in New York City. But continued television and newspaper images of upset storm victims could hurt the Democrat, who is locked in a virtual draw with Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The U.S. death toll hit 109 on Friday, after Sandy killed 69 people as a hurricane in the Caribbean. It struck the New Jersey coast on Monday as a rare hybrid after the hurricane merged with a powerful storm system in the north Atlantic. The death toll in the nation's largest city is now 41, according to the governor's office. However, the New York Polic Department had reported 40 deaths in the city. Half the city's deaths were on Staten Island. Besides New York City, the deaths NBC News has confirmed are:
The National Guard, FEMA and the Red Cross, among other agencies, set up camp to help the hard-hit working class community of Staten Island. NBC's Andrea Canning reports. Lights slowly turning back on "There's enough light and activity to get a lot of people on the street and get rid of that movie set look as if were in some kind of ghost town or horror movie," Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee told NY1 television. In New Jersey, the utility PSE&G said 612,000 customers were still without lights after power to 1 million had been restored. Con Ed said it had restored power to 70 percent of the 916,000 customers in the New York City area who were cut off. The company was still busy assisting tens of thousands more without power in New York City's outer boroughs, where some people complained of being ignored. Read more Sandy coverage on NBCNews.com "We have nobody down here with video coverage," said Grace Lane, a grandmother who defied evacuation orders and rode out the storm in her second-story bedroom as water rushed through the first floor of her house. Eight people - Lane, her husband, their two daughters, their husbands and her two grandchildren - were sleeping on air mattresses on the floor of the upstairs bedroom, the last usable room in the house. "At least my children are OK," she said. Many houses were gutted by 5 feet of floodwater that raced through Broad Channel, where residents hauled broken furniture and soggy belongings out of their homes on Friday. In a sign of security worries in the neighborhood, one garage full of debris stood open with a sign next to it reading: "LOOTERS WILL BE CRUCIFIED - GOD HELP YOU." Tempers flared as people camped out all night, waiting for their turn at the pump in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. NBC's Tom Costello reports. Fuel on the way The government announced it would tap strategic reserves for diesel for emergency responders and waived rules that barred foreign-flagged ships from taking gas, diesel and other products from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeast ports. The moves could help to quell anger triggered by growing lines - some of them miles long - at gas stations. Less than half of the stations in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey were operating on Friday. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered gas rationing in 12 counties to begin on Saturday under an "odd-even" system in which motorists with license plates ending in odd numbers would be able to buy gas on odd-numbered days. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also moved to tamp down rising anger in the most populous U.S. city by dropping plans to hold the city's annual marathon. The city had been expecting more than 40,000 runners in Sunday's event. Obama, who is back on the campaign trail after touring the disaster zone this week, planned to meet on Saturday morning with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Federal Emergency Management Agency director Craig Fugate and others to discuss the storm response. After the meeting, federal officials will travel to hard-hit areas including Manhattan, Breezy Point, Brooklyn, Long Island, Staten Island and cities in New Jersey to review response efforts. Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated Sandy caused up to $20 billion in insured losses and $50 billion in economic losses. The 26.2 mile race that would have wound its way through each borough in the city on Sunday has been canceled, Mayor Bloomberg said, because it has become "the source of controversy and division." NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports. At the high end of the range, it would rank as the fourth costliest U.S. catastrophe, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the September 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Five days after Sandy struck the U.S., New York and the wider region were in full recovery mode:
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast. More content from NBCNews.com:
|
Ah, fall ... sleep an extra hour tonight
Despite bloodshed, Mexico ignored by candidates
 Adriana Alvarado / AP Rapid response Coahuila state police stand at a checkpoint iin Piedras Negras, Mexico, after a prison break on Sept. 18. Security is among the challenges facing the country. By Maria Camila Bernal, Telemundo News analysis Where is home to the largest number of Americans living abroad, as well as the world's richest man? Which country is the United States' third-largest foreign supplier of oil? Which nation did President George W. Bush call the U.S.' most important bilateral partner? Which close American ally has lost some 60,000 lives in a U.S.-backed effort to combat violent crime? The answer to all of the above is Mexico. But despite the many ties that bind the two countries, the United States' southern neighbor barely warranted a mention during the presidential campaign, and didn't come up once during the third "foreign policy" debate between Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney discuss foreign policy in the third and final presidential debate. This omission is not lost on many in Mexico. "At times the United States sees Mexico as an unconditional ally and they see us with the stigma of an undeveloped nation," said Eduardo Rosales, director of the United States-Mexico relations master's program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). "But the United States needs to put their eyes south. It is the most important bilateral relationship in the world." Some Mexico-related news is grimly familiar to most Americans -- tens of thousands have died in violence since outgoing President Felipe Calderon declared war on the country's drug cartels at the end of 2006. Mexico's drug war: No sign of 'light at the end of the tunnel' Mexican cartels funnel between $19 and $39 billion worth of illegal drugs to the United States every year, according to the State Department. The United States, in turn, is a major source of weapons for the cartels. Mexico's death toll remains stubbornly high and swathes of the country virtually ungovernable despite the Merida Initiative, a $1.9-billion U.S.-funded program aimed at fighting trafficking, organized crime and money laundering. A vivid example of the shared security challenges came in August when Mexican police officers thought to be working in cahoots with the cartels ambushed and wounded two U.S. agents. Violence, including the discovery of 49 mutilated bodies near the U.S. border, is reaching new levels in the ongoing drug war in Mexico. NBC's Mark Potter reports. Oscar Alvarez, a college student in the northern state of Coahuila, alleged that much of the blame for the violence and crime lies with the United States, the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs. "The demand on drugs is not being controlled ... and Mexico will always be affected," said Alvarez, 22, who has a small printing business to help cover the costs of school. "Whoever wins (the U.S. election) needs to act. I've heard a lot of talk but I haven't seen anything get done." NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series: Should next US president treat Russia as friend or foe? That the drugs trade and the hyper-violent crime that surrounds it is a shared problem has not been widely accepted in the United States, according to UNAM's Rosales. "The problem is the consumption and the things that surround it such as violence and money laundering," he said. "It's a reality that is neglected by the United Sates. But our bloodshed continues to grow." Cross-border methamphetamine trade booms amid Mexico's 'war on drugs' It isn't clear how incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto of Institutional Revolutionary Party, which governed Mexico for about 70 years, will deal with the cartels, but indications are that many in country are losing patience with the drug war. "I'm against the war," former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castañeda told NBC News in May. "At six years on, it is beginning to look more difficult to see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel." Jorge Castaneda, former Mexican foreign minister and NBC News Latin America policy expert, talks about the latest developments in Mexico's drug war where this week 49 mutilated bodies were found near the U.S. border. Crime and cartels do not define Mexico. It is one of the United States' most important trading partners. Its economy, the world's 14th largest, grew at 5.5 percent in 2010 and 3.8 percent in 2011, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, despite the global economic downturn. Trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada -- members of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- is worth more than trade within the eurozone. NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series: Iran, Israel name checks illustrate America's twin obsessions A symbol of Mexico's growing international economic prominence is Carlos Slim Helu– a telecoms tycoon with wide-ranging investments including a sizable stake in The New York Times – who topped Forbes' list of the world's richest people in 2012. But despite billionaire tycoons and high growth rates, the anemic economy north of the border is hurting Mexico. Mexico leader's message to US: 'No more weapons!' Isidoro Peyron, owner of a family-run tile-making business in Pachuca, central Mexico, says the United States' slowdown has hit him directly. Whoever wins Tuesday's election must kickstart the economy for the sakes of both the U.S. and Mexico, he says. "The next president of the United States needs to reactivate the American economy," said Peyron, 63, who has stopped exporting to the United States. "They are (Mexico's) main commercial partner." Nevertheless, U.S. trade with Mexico totaled about $500 billion in 2011. NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series: Suspicion of US rife as Obama, Romney jab China The 2,000-mile border between the two countries makes this trade easier, but the easy access also fuels another issue that both unifies and divides the U.S. and Mexico: immigration. At an estimated 12 million, Mexicans are by far the largest immigrant group in the United States. And around 7 million, or 59 percent of undocumented immigrants, are thought to have come from Mexico. The Justice Department inspector general found no evidence that Atty. Gen. Eric Holder even knew about the operation that brought more than 2000 guns into Mexico. Fourteen federal law enforcement officials, however, are connected to the botched gun trafficking operation. NBC's Pete Williams reports. While Obama decreed earlier this year that hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants who went to the United States illegally as young children would be entitled to remain, the promise he made in 2008 to reform immigration has not been fulfilled. Meanwhile, there have been more deportations under the Obama administration than during any other presidency in modern times. But even though Obama has disappointed many for not delivering on immigration reform, the UNAM's Rosales did not hold out hope that Romney will resolve the problems. "If Romney got to power, there would be zero chances of an immigration reform," Rosales said. "If Obama is elected a second term, it's still hard, but the chances increase." In his public life, Mitt Romney has said and written little about his ancestors' history in Mexico. It's a little-known fact that there's a whole branch of Mitt Romney's family living south of the border, including his second cousin Leighton Romney, and about 40 other relatives descended from religious pioneers who first traveled to Mexico 125 years ago. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports. Romney favors a U.S.-Mexico border fence and opposes education benefits to illegal immigrants, as well as offering legal status to illegal immigrants who attend college, although he would support doing so for those who serve in the armed forces. More Mexico coverage from NBC News Mike Reyes, who currently resides in Mexico City, lived in Arizona for eight years as an illegal immigrant. He feels the U.S. fails to appreciate what immigrants like himself contributed to the country. "We hope the situation with Hispanics can be resolved in this election," said Reyes, 45, who works as a driver for the public transportation system despite having a degree in business. Net Mexican immigration to the United States has stopped growing and may even have declined in recent years, according to a recent study. But with about half of Mexico's population classified as poor, economic realities are likely to continue propelling many Mexicans north for years to come. So immigration policies pursued by the winner of the 2012 presidential race will have an impact not only on the United States but Mexico. More world stories from NBC News:
|
