U.S. Disaster Relief in a Race Against Cold Snap
U.S. Disaster Relief in a Race Against Cold Snap
Fuel supplies headed toward disaster zones in the U.S. Northeast on Saturday and a million customers regained electricity ahead of a coming cold snap that threatened to add to the misery of coastal communities devastated by superstorm Sandy.
The power restorations relit the skyline in lower Manhattan for the first time in nearly a week and allowed 80 percent of the New York City subway service to resume, but 2.5 million homes and businesses still lacked power, down from 3.5 million on Friday.
The power outages combined with a heating oil shortage meant some homes could go cold as wintry weather sets in. [ID:nL1E8M2DQD] Forecasters saw temperatures dipping into the upper 30s Fahrenheit (around 3 degrees Celsius) on Saturday night with similar low temperatures next week.
“There’s no heating oil around,” said Vincent Savino, the president of Statewide Oil and Heating, which usually supplies some 2,000 buildings across New York City. “I don’t know how much fuel we have left: maybe a day or two.”
The long, arduous recovery was taxing disaster victims and first responders strained by a week of emergency services.