Disaster Response

Few Big FEMA Generators Humming

Fri, 2012-11-02 19:15 — Maeryn Obley

Video: Before Sandy struck, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said they had 400 industrial-size power generators ready to help the East Coast. Three days after Sandy landed, only a fraction of that equipment is actually providing power.

online.wsj.com - November 2nd, 2012 - Devlin Barrett

Before Sandy struck, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said they had 400 industrial-size power generators ready to help the East Coast. Three days after Sandy landed, only a fraction of that equipment is actually providing power, despite the fact that millions are still without electricity.

On Thursday, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said four generators were installed overnight. He said that by the end of the day, he expected there would be roughly 70 generators installed in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, but his figures didn't jibe with those from state officials.

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On Twitter, Sifting Through Falsehoods in Critical Times

Thu, 2012-11-01 22:27 — Maeryn Obley

Image: A startling but manufactured image of the giant storm that made the rounds on Twitter and Facebook.

nytimes.com - October 31st, 2012 - Jenna Wortham

During Hurricane Sandy’s peak, Twitter was abuzz with activity, as tens of thousands of people turned to the microblogging service for alerts, updates and real-time reports and photographs of the storm.

Trouble is, not all of it was true.

Deliberate falsehoods, including images showing the Statue of Liberty engulfed in ominous clouds and sharks swimming through waterlogged suburban neighborhoods quickly spread through the service, as did word that power would be shut off for the entire city of New York and that the floor of the New York Stock Exchange had been flooded.

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Sandy forces climate change on US election despite fossil fuel lobby

Thu, 2012-11-01 21:37 — Maeryn Obley

Currie Wagner looks over the debris from his grandmother Betty Wagner's house, destroyed by Sandy, in New Jersey. Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

Image: Currie Wagner looks over the debris from his grandmother Betty Wagner's house, destroyed by Sandy, in New Jersey. Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

guardian.co.uk - October 31st, 2012 - Bill McKibben

Here's a sentence I wish I hadn't written – it rolled out of my Macbook in May, part of an article for Rolling Stone that quickly went viral:

"Say something so big finally happens (a giant hurricane swamps Manhattan, a megadrought wipes out Midwest agriculture) that even the political power of the industry is inadequate to restrain legislators, who manage to regulate carbon."

I wish I hadn't written it because the first half gives me entirely undeserved credit for prescience: I had no idea both would, in fact, happen in the next six months.

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Susan's Perspective on Superstorm Sandy

Thu, 2012-11-01 21:34 — mdmcdonald

This e-mail may be more stream of consciousness than anything else but I'll do my best to organize my thoughts. I'll also include video links where I can.

Citizens did not follow the mandatory evacuation order because
- When they evacuated for Irene, they found that the places to which they evacuated were hit hard whereas the homes they left behind were fine.
- Many residents live in highrises and feel that as long as the water doesn't reach their apartment, they'll be safe. They stock up on batteries, food, water, and medication for a few days but not enough to sustain them for over a week without power.
- Folks living in houses figured that if things got really bad, they could flee at the last minute. They did not expect the water to flow in in such a violent fashion nor did they expect the water levels to rise as quickly nor as high as they did. A friend of mine thought she was prepared because parked her car in her driveway facing outward. I haven't been able to speak with her since Monday morning, but my guess is that her car is totaled and possibly has floated away.

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In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not to Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions

Thu, 2012-11-01 21:25 — Maeryn Obley

Patients are taken to ambulances outside of Bellevue Hospital during an evacuation on Oct. 31, in New York. Bellevue Hospital continued to evacuate its patients on Wednesday after flooding inundated the basement and knocked out electricity. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

Image: Patients are taken to ambulances outside of Bellevue Hospital during an evacuation on Oct. 31, in New York. Bellevue Hospital continued to evacuate its patients on Wednesday after flooding inundated the basement and knocked out electricity. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

propublica.org - November 1st, 2012 - Sheri Fink

At 9:30 p.m. Monday, Eugene Tangney burst into a meeting of doctors at the command center for Long Island's North Shore-LIJ hospital system. Ceiling tiles creaked in the wind and television screens showed images of Hurricane Sandy slamming into New York City.

"NYU called," Tangney said. "They want to evacuate. I don't know how to help them right now. They're in a panic mode."

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