Storm Sandy: Anger as Fuel Shortages Hamper Recovery

Afrik Update


By-Bbc Uk

   

Fuel shortages and difficulties in restoring power are hampering efforts to restore normality to parts of the US north-east in the wake of Storm Sandy.

Fights broke out at petrol stations in New York and New Jersey, and power suppliers warned some areas might not have electricity until 11 November.

Anger is also rising in New York's Staten Island, with some residents saying they had been forgotten.

More than 90 deaths in the US have now been blamed on Sandy.

The cost of the storm to the US is now put at about $50bn (£31bn).

Meanwhile, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed President Barack Obama for next week's presidential election, saying Storm Sandy had highlighted climate change, and that only one candidate saw this as an "urgent problem".

'Annihilated'

Residents and workers of areas affected by Storm Sandy will wake on Friday to continued problems of transportation, lack of electricity and a dearth of fuel.

At many petrol stations there have been long lines of cars and of people carrying jerry cans.

One owner of a fuel station in New Jersey told the New York Times he had been pumping petrol for 36 hours. He said he had to call the police and turn off the pumps temporarily as tempers among customers rose.

There were reports of sharp price increases by some suppliers.

Well over half of petrol stations in New Jersey and in New York City remain closed.

Power officials hope to restore electricity to all of Manhattan and more areas on Brooklyn by Saturday, with more underground lines opening.

Train fares remain free on Friday and a ban on cars with fewer than three people inside will stay in place in Manhattan on Friday.

But Consolidated Edison, the power company serving New York, warned that some areas of the city would be blacked out until 11 November.

Almost 45% of customers in New Jersey and some 15% in New York State remain without electricity.

New York West Village resident Rosemarie Zurlo told Associated Press she was abandoning her flat temporarily and heading to Brooklyn: "I'm leaving because I'm freezing. My apartment is ice cold. Everybody's tired of it."