November 9th, 2012
12:19 PM ET

Cold threatens Northeast residents without power

Low nighttime temperatures over the next couple of days aren’t going to make things easy for East Coast residents still without power after Superstorm Sandy and this week’s nor’easter.

But warmer daytime conditions will be ideal for recovery crews, including utility workers hoping to get many more homes powered and heated by this weekend.

Temperatures are expected to rise into the upper 40s and lower 50s in New England, New York and New Jersey on Friday after morning temperatures that dipped into the 30s.

But it’ll be back to around 40 degrees Friday night in Oceanside, New York, where residents - without power for 11 days - gathered to demand help in front of TV cameras on Friday morning.

“Gov. Cuomo … send the National Guard in here today to turn the power back on!” Hempstead Councilman Tony Santino said in a microphone to the crowd.

As of 7:15 a.m., about 519,000 people were without power in 10 states from Maryland to Maine - down from 551,085 on Thursday, and from about 2.4 million last weekend, according to power companies there.

Most of the outages Friday were in New York (282,500) and New Jersey (235,140).

The nor’easter that came through Wednesday and Thursday, dumping several inches of snow on the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, complicated power restoration efforts.

A resident of West Hempstead, New York, said he and his family finally got power restored to their home around noon Wednesday, but the nor’easter put them back in the dark and cold just 12 hours later.

Joshua A. Martinez told CNN's iReport.com that the power went out again around 12:55 a.m. Thursday, just more than 12 hours after it was restored. His home, which he had heated to 68 degrees, quickly chilled - the interior was down to 63 degrees in minutes, he said. So, he said, it was back to wearing layers of clothes and covering up with about five blankets at night.

Thousands of people, whether their homes were destroyed by Sandy or their homes have no heat, still are looking for proper habitation. About 5,300 people affected by Sandy stayed in more than 70 shelters on Thursday night, the American Red Cross said Friday.

The Camerada family of Staten Island, New York, is staying at home despite having no electric or natural gas service since Sandy. The Cameradas are heating their house with a propane stove.

"My youngest is 8 years old. We have to do homework with blankets - not just one blanket, two, three blankets on - and he’s freezing," Diane Camerada told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night. "I have to keep him in my lap and make him do homework with me."

She said, “I’ve had offers from people to take us in and get hot showers, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart, but I can’t leave my home. I’m afraid to leave my home."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that except for homes in certain devastated areas on New Jersey’s barrier islands, most of the state’s remaining power outages should be fixed by Saturday.

Saturday’s temperatures should be a bit more welcome for storm victims and recovery crews alike: Highs in the region should be in the 50s and lower 60s.

Meanwhile, officials in New York City and on Long Island on Friday began a temporary gas-rationing system to fight long lines at gas stations due to power outages and supply disruptions.

The system generally allows only people with even-numbered license plates to buy gasoline on even-numbered days, and people with odd-numbered license plates to purchase fuel on odd-numbered days.

New Jersey started a similar, temporary system last weekend in 12 counties. For more on the recovery efforts and gas rationing, read this story.

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Filed under: New Jersey • New York • Superstorm Sandy • Weather
soundoff (11 Responses)
  1. Ronald

    Poor guys. Hopefully the weather will be nicer for them this weekend.

    November 9, 2012 at 12:22 pm | Report abuse |
    • JOHN

      WHAT!!! didnt obummer promise less red tape and saving this poor poor democrat voters in the north east from further misery?...another lie...just to get elected by the clueless minions who believe his lies.

      November 9, 2012 at 4:43 pm | Report abuse |
  2. when my doG looks in the mirror he sees God

    Unfortunately this is November and the temperature will not warm up to give them any relief.

    November 9, 2012 at 1:36 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Ed Manley

    Anderson Cooper's doing a great job getting people who refuse to leave their damaged powerless homes some sympathy. Help has been and is offered and they won't take it. They are going to have to leave those homes and go to shelter when it gets cold. Too bad that they don't want to leave, no victim does. And don't cry about losing your house when you live in a flood zone and know that you cannot get insurance. Personal responsibility, people!

    November 9, 2012 at 10:06 pm | Report abuse |
  4. kings

    poor guys...

    November 9, 2012 at 11:45 pm | Report abuse |
  5. massoud

    FEMA = Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency

    November 10, 2012 at 1:43 am | Report abuse |
  6. hillbilleter

    We were without power for 10 days over the Christmas holidays a couple of years ago, after a major blizzard. It wasn't the politicians who failed to keep the utilities up to date – we'd all been paying utility bills for many years but the utility companies had been paying stockholders instead of updating our lines and equipment. Part of why it took so long to reinstate power was the equipment was so old that emergency crews coming from other regions had to order special tools to work on it. After the blizzard, the utility company got a federal grant to update equipment that they should have been updating all along. So I don't directly blame politicians for the delays, just deregulation that hurts customers and favors pure profits.

    November 10, 2012 at 7:01 am | Report abuse |
  7. peaceluvr

    I have prayed for the people in the Northeast and they have been getting assistance. It really bothers me to see all the anger over lost utilities. I know it is very frustrating, but it was no one's fault. I live in Oklahoma and in 2007 we had a horrible icestorm and was with power or water for 2 weeks. It wasn't easy, but with the bad conditions we had to just be patient in getting our utilities restored. I realize our home wasn't in a shambles, but we did have parts of trees down and frozen water pipes. If it causes this much anger, God help us when something worse occurs! People need to have faith and patience!

    November 10, 2012 at 9:03 am | Report abuse |
  8. lynn

    Sad that they cannot leave or want to because they fear looters. Nat Guard should come in to patrol and a curfew at night should be put into place. Kids should not have to live like this. It was not a tornado with no warning, they knew the storm was coming and should have beeen better prepared. I heard some electrical workers were turned away from helping because they were not union workers. Is that true? Just another ex of how big gov't is inept in helping locally.

    November 10, 2012 at 5:09 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Guest

    The power is now on 2 weeks afterwards, for most of the homes in New Jersey that lost it from Sandy.
    However there are still homes & other building where lower floors were filled with seawater like my child's High School that are not yet powered up. They have to repair & inspect every building's wiring before turning the power back on in our area, or face electrical fires from systems contaminated by the salt water.
    Nearby buildings that had no seawater flooding are also waiting for power, because they are on the same circuits. Our Grammar school across the street was not flooded, but they have not been able to power up & return to school either. The Grammar School just called us & postponed tomorrow's start indefinitely(sigh).
    The High School is currently scheduled to start on Wednesday, I hope they have power by then.
    I wish there were a magic wand to wave & make it all better, but the truth is....
    (1)There is a lot to do because of the type of damage.
    (2) This area has an extremely high population density, so there are a lot of structures to fix.
    (3) Even with all the help that came from around the country this will take time, they are working as fast as they can.
    All we can do is keep trying, & help each other as much as possible.
    I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who have helped us here in NJ, & those who continue to help us to recover. All of you are top notch in my book.

    November 11, 2012 at 5:11 pm | Report abuse |
  10. AstronautsAroundUs

    Shouldn't live in the North East!

    November 12, 2012 at 11:02 am | Report abuse |
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