Government has too many embedded costs to do any serious recalibration on how to handle disasters.If you live in an area where government is responsible for everything ,don't expect better results than be prepared yourself.I'll bet one of the reasons NY is in such sad shape is they can't afford to pay workers overtime.

Think about the craziness of Obama's $800 billion stimulus which did nothing compared to a paltry $50 billion it would take to rebuild this area. The stimulus is blown money which leaves the government too broke to do anything,yet this genius just got re-elected.

Spot on, #1.

Boots on the ground helping...Mormons, Salvation Army, churches....no "atta boy" from the LSM. FEMA takes 3 days to replenish water supplies....??? Excuse me but where did they put all the "prepositioned supplies"? California? And why on earth would ANYONE in the affected area vote for the current thugs in office if they cannot help out in a major storm? Empty words is all they get from the govt. Learn to take care of yourselves people. NOW!

Americans are increasingly relying on the Federal Government to heal all their wounds and are consistently disappointed. Why are they so dumb? Is the public school system that screwed up?
(Maybe don't answer that...I guess it was rhetorical).

FYI Staten Island voted for Romney and McCain in 2008 so we're getting shafted. Fema came late and left because of the snow storm. Worse than Katrina but MSM silent. God help us. Snow is pretty and dangerous.

Ditto poster #1 and #2.....

AND jessie/jackson/junior got re/elected while serving time at Mayo clinic for "whatever"... He's now plea dealing with goooooberment on fraud charg now that's he's been re/elected. He has to give back the Rolex watch he gave his "girl/friend".... Those jackson women are as stupid as the kennedy women....

AND the stupid man who "dared" to exercise his first amendment rights to make a film about moooslims -- got time in jail for fraud..

Welcome to obama/world. Sounds like a da@n monster movie...

LZK

Bush was blamed for Katrina and for the poor response from the State and Local govts od New Orleans.

Not only will Obama and Bloomberg not be blamed for Sandy or any delays in the cleanup, but Bush or some other Republican will likely get the blame here as well. It has already started with the global warming nutcases.

The bureaucrats have learned the lesson of how to pass the blame on to someone else and keep their jobs, but have learned nothing practical for saving lives or cleaning up.

The worst part is that a large percentage of the general population has learned nothing either and allows this deadly and costly farce to continue.

Re post #4 Obama is just doing what he told his supporters to do... Punishing his enemies.

They news shows people complaining, what am I going to do, where is the help, we are gonna die, they need to clean this mess etc. etc. etc.

How many times must the poeple of this nation be left by FEMA's ineptness. What does it take to stock 100,000 generators, and be able, if need be, to chopper them right to those in dire need. FEMA is a failure, no matter who is in charge, because they can not react without paperwork in triplicate to move one roll of toiletpaper. And the nationwide election has just told us they want MORE GOVERNMENT?

#4, our area is gathering supplies and a retired NYC cop will be driving the truck north. Please give us all a clue what type of things you need so that we can buy the proper and useful kinds of things to donate. Also, could you post the names and maybe the addresses of churches that are helping so that we could send money contributions?

I fear that #7 is right. Just like the present president could not be bothered with wildfires in Texas that covered more area than a few NE states. Revenge, that's his agenda.

After how these folks voted for Obama, I don't care. They can get ten feet of snow. Tough. Call Obama.

How about the utility trucks they turned away because they weren't union? I'm sorry, but your cries for help are falling on unionized deaf ears.

Please be careful not to have useless spaces [15] as they waste our bandwidth. LCom Staff.

#10 Check for latest aid sites at
www.silive.com

#6, lemme tell you how it is gonna go.

"Uh, er ah as was stated prior to the election,er uh ah FEMA and I, Barack Hoosayn Uhhhhbama were doing a great job fixing MY country.

Chris Christie- he screwed it all up, like every Republican does."

And Christie will weep over the call from Springsteen.

The "You people voted for Obama" meme is infuriatingly stupid. Staten Island and the Jersey Shore area is mostly Republican and most of the people suffering did NOT vote for Obama.

Even in the most liberal strongholds in North Jersey, 40%+ of the people suffering vote Republican.

Moving all wiring underground should have been part of the stimulus program. Instead we spent the money to study the sex life of a certain frog or such. Had we done the above, thousands of people would not be freezing, have to stand in lines for gas for their generators...or even need those generators. We always say after one of these big storms,we need to put the electric wire below grand, and then just forget it when the need disappers.

It will cost a lot of money to do, but it likewise will save a lot of money once done. Ok Obama, Christi, step up and get it done.

You know you live in a sick nation when the likes of Jesse Jackson Jr. can get reelected from a hospital bed while a great patriot such as Col. Allen West gets defeated after one congressional term.

Where are we headed??

Politicians don't like project such as seawalls, drainage tunnels, or levees. There is no immediate political payback. Now tens of thousands are suffering.

It should be noted that Tiny Bloomie has not visited any of the affected areas in SI and Brooklyn. He has traveled on the #5 express train on Monday from 59th Street to City Hall, surrounded by 6 bodyguards and not answering questions from a NY Post reporter. If he dared to go to those places, ten armed guards would not protect him from the locals' wrath. (In fact, the bodyguards might get in on the action.)

Tiny's a useless, arrogant (initials deleted before L.dot's Taste Police do!) but why New Yorkers do not march on his house or on City Hall is beyond me.

Amusing how every black suffering the effects of hurricane Sandy has not ONE complaint about PRESIDENT Obama's mishandling of FEMA. Contrast THAT with Katrina.
The affirmative action president screwed up so badly that he has to have a "do over"..another 4 years to get something right..it won't happen.

The nation is being Judged.

If you can't see this ....

Government (at any level) is only a failure when a Republican is in charge.

Sfacheem, Staten Island went Obama this year.
Barely %50 of Monmouth and Ocean went Romney.

I urge those R's in those areas to MOVE. Deprive the takers of the makers.

I'd think before sending relief supplies to the blue areas--we're going to need everything we have over the next four years.

Still no power here in Oceanside...and very, very cold. The local churches are doing a wonderful job of feeding people and getting them clothes. Don't know what the gov't is doing--utility company is working hard, but still problems abound. And forget about getting gasoline...a whole other story.

Re our hostess's observation re armed [or not?] National Guard -- isn't it "curious" that the hateful, power-mad hoplophobes would never set foot outside the taxpayer-provided mansions and armored limousines without numerous taxpayer-provided armed guards?

Remember what the English guy, Eric Blair, had his pigs say?

Comment: This and just about all major hurricanes/storms are covered 3, 4, 5, or more days ahead of landfall. And since bottled water basically "never" goes bad, why wouldn't I have a couple cases stored, plug a couple 5-gallon jerry cans for flushing? The drinking water can be "turned over" every couple of months [whatever the individual prefers] through normal household consumption of the cases needing to be changed out. The same can be done with gasoline [add a storage stabilizer, and refresh the supply maybe once or twice a year; put the "old" stuff in your car or lawnmower. I'd hunt up a fireproof storage locker [paint shop, garage, whatever closing] for the gas storage, maybe keep the locker outside. Just think about the factors involved. None of the basics is rocket surgery, and some self-provisioning makes other problems less challenging.

#24, very good. It's important that the facts are told again. People forget, amidst all the leftwing "revisionist 'history'".