Greetings Freeport,
This is our first numbered update since we posted our videos of Freeport's devastation. Our goal in #13 is to consolidate some of the news floating around about Hurricane Sandy's aftermath. And, yes, to ask a few more questions about a certain policy that I am growing more convinced is foolish.
School Closures
Once again, Freeport Public Schools will be closed for the rest of the week. This is not a universal rule for all school districts in the area; for example, NYC is asking its teachers to come in on Friday. Freeport, as one of the harder-hit communities in this area, is understandably less ready to return. It's staff, assuming at least many live in South Freeport, are basically living in the stone age (more on that soon!). Any employees coming in from Long Beach or other coastal communities might - for all we know - be living in shelters. And that's before we start worrying about the students and their conditions.
Right now, it's simply wise to give the kids less stuff to worry about, especially those down south.
Gas Restoration
Gas is handled by National Grid, if I'm not mistaken. It'll be turned on when it is, but truthfully I'm not convinced they'd know it. At our home, the National Grid guy said we'd have gas - and we don't. Clearly, not all of them are on the same page.
Water Conservation
In general, try to conserve water. I haven't heard of any sewer-line breaches or boil-water orders, but Ed Mangano has stressed that sewage treatment facilities are not fully functional, and burdening the water district is a bad idea.
Price Gouging
For those who don't know, when an emergency hits there are some folks who will try to make money. We received one report of residents who were getting lunch outside of a gas station. They watched as the price went from $3.79 to $3.99 - A jump, but not an unreasonable one. Suddenly, it hit $4.49. I'd seen prices as high as that yesterday, but I wasn't prepared for what I heard next in the story.
Freeport Police showed up, and the owner of this undisclosed gas station got taken away in handcuffs for gouging.
This is coming from a pretty reliable source, but I'm not mentioning specifics for a reason. Mainly, they're not the only place that's done this, to my knowledge, and I want it to be a nice surprise for when others call in to say something.
Power Restoration
Best for last, as they say. So. Here's where I remind everyone that TWF has a strict editorial policy about not being partisan...Because as you've guessed, I'm about to say something that might be made out as partisan, even though it isn't. I'd also like to note an open letter I wrote earlier on our Facebook page, lest anyone think that I am being overwhelmingly in favor of any one party or politician, here.
In Update #12 I mentioned that the Village was intentionally shutting power to everything in "South Freeport," which I learned to be everything south of Atlantic Avenue. As we reported earlier, this shut-down is until Saturday at 10:00 AM. The Village is asking all residents (effectively requiring) to hire an electrician to come and verify that their house is safe to return an electrical current to. We've seen what happens when it isn't, and that's all well and good. I have it upon information I can rely on that if you do not get an independent evaluation proving your home's safety, it might not get turned on at all!
Of course, I also have it upon separate information that you need to pay for this evaluation out of your own pocket.
To the Village's credit, they sent people door-to-door to deliver these notices. They additionally, again to their credit, have produced a list of electricians you can view by clicking this link! All of that is great for those with friends who are online. None of that addresses the simple fact that residents are being forced to pay for a brand new mandate out of their own pocket, one that to the best of anyone I've spoken to's knowledge has never before been a policy.
All of this might not seem like such a slap in the face to us residents effected by this ruling if and only if we had been informed before the storm came. Preferably, I would have liked to see this announcement made, I dunno, at a general meeting and distributed well in advance of any potential catastrophe. As it stands, this is a brand new rule which essentially screws over a lot of Freeporters who already have it hard enough. I've always said safety comes first, and it does - but at this point, the safety of having power back is the greater loss.
As every day goes by without it, peoples' homes are being damaged by the water they cannot pump out without electricity. They can't properly clean their homes, so they will develop dangerous mold. They can't re-charge vital cell phones or receive news updates. They can't cook real food (I know people who have been living on peanut butter and jelly for days), they can't take real showers or engage in practical good hygiene. Most of all, for those who have medical needs like orthopedic beds, oxygen tank re-charging requirements, or built-in lifts to get up stairs, this is a serious problem.
Their safety has essentially been auctioned off in favor of others who might or might not ever be able to act upon this opportunity to "protect their property." It's easy for me to say this until, hypothetically, they turn on the juice and someone's house burns down. That probably won't happen, and I understand erring on the side of caution. However, it's already been, what, four days almost? Will two more really matter? Will this ruling really be enforced?
Now, in that above open letter I wrote, I argued that it's unfair to criticize the Mayor when, quite honestly, we have little idea what he's been up to and how he has (or hasn't, if you must take that view) been handling the situation. I did hear about him appearing on Fios 1, so I dutifully looked up some video. I looked for other clips and I looked for things from News 12, but all I got was the above link to a phone interview from October 30th. In less than a minute, I heard something startling and something that, as someone effected by this situation, kind of rings downright dirty:
"We know that we've come from more than 10,000 residents out of power to just about 600." - Mayor Andrew Hardwick.
My response: Mr. Mayor, exactly how many people live in Freeport? And how many live south of Atlantic? Did you mean to say "600 households?" That I might believe, but 600 residents? You used the word "residents" twice. Either you mis-spoke, which you probably should have corrected (since you should have been well versed in this information, and not made the same mistake twice), or you frankly misled the media and residents who have heard you.
Never mind that you said you only decided after the hurricane hit to officially enter us into a state of emergency, something that might only be symbolic since the entire state has been in one since Monday. Hell, it might not even be something you can legally do until after the hurricane hits! If that's the case, then nobody can be upset at you - in fact, you should be commended. But, then again, as I keep saying about communication, and have literally been saying for years, I don't see any actual explanations anywhere of what is going on. That's what's most irksome to me - by now, we should have some information to survive on and we just don't.
In short - I stepped up, professionally of course, when other people were blasting you and said that it was too early to know for sure what happened, and that we needed more information. Taken as a defense, I defended your administration, but I view it as journalistic integrity to prohibit pre-determined arguments from being leveled. Well, now we have a little more information and it is not looking good. Foisting the cost of an evaluation off onto those who have been the hardest hit is downright scandalous, and not just because I'm one of those who has been hit. Hell, it's not even because I'm one of those who didn't really need to be cut off in the first place (Our box never got a drop on it). I can get that, even if I don't like it.
But I can't get how this lack of communication with residents has been allowed to go on, and I especially can't get how you are implementing a brand new emergency management tactic without any advance notice. Emergency shut-downs I get, I can respect, and I can even defend. Non-emergency keep-downs and especially additional financial burdens, I don't, can't, and won't allow to stand unquestioned.
You've created an unenforcible policy. What, is Freeport Electric going to go into every house? Is it going to manually cut the lines to every house, and only restore those who have a signed doctors (Sorry, Electrician's) note? If so, why not just do that now, and restore power to those who are ready to go? In fact, why not just have Freeport Electric go door to door, investigate each box, and activate blocks when they're ready? It's probably because that's not practical, and it won't be any more practical on Saturday than it is right this minute, or yesterday when this new plan was announced.
I get that in a way I'm spoiled. Freeport has always had very good electrical service. It's something we pay for, and we consequently expect. This is a totally new policy, and even in the face of a once-in-seventy-years (the last was 1938) disaster new policies should not be thrown into effect carelessly. Having fifty years of high expectations for electricity restoration, then turning that on its ear without prior notice is just plain irresponsible. Yes, I realize many communities won't have power next Saturday. We're not them. We're Freeport. I realize our crews are out there working hard to get power up, but we've never before had these problems, and they are not ones caused by a hurricane. They're caused by leadership's decisions. Or do you really think that the electrical workers will somehow have an easier job pretending they're an elementary school's attendance office, and looking for "return to power" notes?
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