Cuomo, emergency-response pros headed on aid mission to storm-battered Puerto Rico

[Madmallard]

Gov. Cuomo and a group of emergency response officials from New York are heading to Puerto Rico to aid in recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

In response to a request from Puerto Rico’s governor Ricardo Rossello, Cuomo said Thursday that New York will also provide emergency supplies on a plane donated by JetBlue.

The focus of the group will be helping repair the island’s devastated power structure.

The U.S. territory suffered intense damage as Maria’s lashing winds and flood-inducing rains pummeled the island.

The 3.4 million residents were left in the dark and wondering how they will cook, clean up and or even run fans after the island’s energy grid was destroyed by the storm.

“There’s a humanitarian emergency here in Puerto Rico,” Rossello said earlier Thursday. “This is an event without precedent.”

Cuomo and the other officials will leave on the first available flight, likely on Friday morning.

“New York is home to more Puerto Ricans than any other state in the country, and our hearts break for our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters as they begin to rebuild after the unimaginable devastation of Hurricane Maria,” Cuomo said. “We are sending requested resources and personnel to help the island rebuild, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Puerto Rican community in their time of need.”

The New York Power Authority is sending 10 engineers, planners, technical supervisors and translators, along with drones and two drone pilots from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Cuomo, emergency-response pros headed to Puerto Rico for recovery

 

[MilesTeg]

I don't know they can legally do this. If the feds are sending aid I can buy but a state sending state paid employees to a US territory to do work doesn't pass the smell test.

 

[masterswimmer]

I don't know they can legally do this. If the feds are sending aid I can buy but a state sending state paid employees to a US territory to do work doesn't pass the smell test.

I'd like to see you tell the king he can't do something. Off with your head!

 

[Robin]

Another bid for the presidency on our dime. Disgusting! FUAC
Robin

 

[kev74]

Governor Clusterfuck... Always ready to get in the way and halt progress at a moment's notice.

FUAC!

 

[MilesTeg]

I'd like to see you tell the king he can't do something. Off with your head!

He can come personally and try to take it.

 

[masterswimmer]

Sue NYS and Cuomo. Unacceptable sending NYS resources while Sandy victims still remain homeless.

Hurricane Sandy victims' homes still uninhabitable nearly five years later
EDGAR SANDOVAL, CHELSIA ROSE MARCIUS, ERIN DURKIN, NANCY DILLON SEP 2, 2017 4:00 PM

Nearly five years after Hurricane Sandy, they’re still living in limbo — instead of in their homes.

Their stories stand out amid the backdrop of Hurricane Harvey's recent devastation, showing how a new breed of nightmare can take hold once a monster storm's soggy debris gives way to mountains of dry, tedious red tape.

They are the more than 1,000 New York City residents whose homes are still uninhabitable, boarded up, torn down or undergoing some form of reconstruction.

Tom Doyle, 55, stood outside his boarded-up home in Staten Island's hard-hit South Beach neighborhood on Thursday and shook his head in disbelief.

A warning sign on his once tidy, two-family brick home read "Under Construction."

"Under construction? That's a joke. There hasn't been any construction here since we left," he said with exasperation. "It's frustrating."

The father of four and grandfather of three recalled going to work as a sanitation department borough chief in Brooklyn when Sandy hit.

"My wife called me and told me the water was rising up. There was no way she could get everyone out of the house. They went upstairs," he said.

He worked a 12-hour shift, spending some of that time rescuing people, then returned to find 6 feet of water in his newly renovated first floor.

"It destroyed everything," he said. "Everything we had, all our money we saved and borrowed for the renovation, was gone in a day."

The family had flood insurance, but it only paid about $34,000 — nowhere near enough to cover gutting and restoring, he said. They did what they could and moved back in temporarily.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the city's Built It Back program said he qualified.

"A lot of people were waiting to get in. We got accepted right away. We thought, 'Great, we are lucky,'" he recalled.

The process was slow at first. Then he was told things were about to start "moving fast" last year, so the family transferred to a rental on Aug. 15, 2016.

Officials ultimately decided that Doyle’s house had to be torn down because of structural damage, he said. Then for some reason, the first contractor assigned to his project dropped out. The second one did too.

The family handed over the keys during the process and was told not to enter the property.

They were visiting a relative next door when they realized the radiators had frozen and burst, sending new flooding through the ghostly structure.

Doyle said he later got a $2,500 water bill for the incident that still hasn't been resolved.

"The entire first floor is mold-infested now," he said. "So even if I wanted to drop out of Build It Back at this point, I couldn't afford it. The house would have to be gutted to the bone, which costs money I do not have."

The latest setback came when Build It Back said the family would no longer be getting a new wood structure built on-site. Instead, they would get a modular home largely built in a factory setting.

Doyle said he hasn't seen any images yet and has a new raft of worries about safety and re-sale value.

He said his family is "very grateful" for the city's assistance, but the delays and miscommunications have taken a toll.

"I'm not looking for a mansion. I just want to go home," he told The News.

Doyle said his best advice for Harvey victims displaced from homes during reconstruction is to be relentless. Take more pictures than you ever think you'll need, save every receipt and try to visit your property as often as possible, he said.

His regular visits uncovered the burst radiators and at least three attempted break-ins, he said.

Hurricane Sandy hit Oct. 29, 2012 and quickly became one of the worst natural disasters in the city's history. It left tens of thousands of people immediately homeless and drained the life savings of countless New Yorkers.

In June 2013, the state created the Office of Storm Recovery and the city launched Build It Back. Within months, an estimated 20,000 families applied for city aid.

As of last month, 97% of the 8,313 homeowners who qualified for Build It Back received either financial reimbursement or a construction start, officials said.

Of the 5,166 cases involving construction managed by either the city or the private homeowner, 4,056 have been completed, they said.

Brooklyn residents Kathy and Dan Ene said Build It Back initially turned them away, claiming they didn't qualify. But they didn't give up.

"They had said that we didn't have enough damage. The fact that our house was on the water didn't matter much to them. It was all a numbers game," Kathy, 60, told The News.

She said the threshold to qualify was 50% damage, and the city decided her home on Gerritsen Beach was only 40% damaged.

"We had to fight. Everything was a fight and a struggle," Dan, a 49-year-old volunteer firefighter, said.

The couple stood outside their coastal property Thursday, staring at the exposed wood. They hope to return with their three boys in a year's time.

"We had 4 feet of water on the first floor. Everything was destroyed," Kathy said.

The family got more than $40,000 from FEMA, the state and friends and relatives, but it still wasn't enough to hire a contractor.

Dan stripped out the flooring, sheetrock and insulation himself and replaced all the utilities.

The family moved back in temporarily but had to evacuate again in June to make way for Build It Back contractors planning to elevate the structure.

"These last few storms, the water had moved into the yard. (That) used to be rare, but now it’s the norm," she said. "We need to elevate. If anyone in this neighborhood is going to get flooded, it's us."

Brooklyn resident Maura Buckley recalled the dizzying number of times she's had to relocate since Sandy ripped the deck off her Breezy Point house and filled it with a thigh-high swamp.

"It was just one big muddy black hole," she said of her childhood home. "You're in complete shock. You're trying to figure out, 'Is this happening to me? Am I in some sort of dream I can't wake up from?'"

Buckley said she first moved to Long Island. Then some friends in Marine Park took her in until she found a nearby apartment. Then she moved back in with her parents.

She said it was hard to explain all the upheaval to her son Eamonn, who was only 4 years old when Sandy struck.

"I'd kind of pretend I wasn't even dealing with it. It was almost like robotic. You'd come, you'd gut the house for as long as you can," she said.

Her home is finally set to be demolished next week. Build It Back will be constructing a new home for her, with completion set for next year.

"It's been a long five years," she said Friday. "You're mad one day, you're sad one day, you're positive the next day. You're on this back and forth."

All the Sandy survivors said their hearts sank as they saw the startling images of Harvey's wrath.

"I want them just to know that they are loved," Buckley said, "that as hard as things are and as dark as these days may seem, that there are so many people out here that want to help."

Kathy Ene said her heart was breaking because she knew the storm was only the beginning.

"We are lucky, at least our house is still standing. So many of them have lost their homes entirely," she said.

"It brings me back. It flashes me back to the day of Sandy, right at that moment," Doyle said of the images pouring out of the Gulf Coast.

 

[ProgSpear]

Another bid for the presidency on our dime. Disgusting! FUAC
Robin

beat me to it. this rotten bastard will spend as much of our money to satisfy his ego as he can.

 

[Jsmegs77]

He's really going for the whole petit-dictator thing here... it seems that he believes NY to be his own personal little kingdom, and he has carte blanche to do as he wishes with the treasury among other things.

 

[Jmac00]

Lets get this straight. Gov. FUBAR wants federal money to fix Penn Station. Gov. FUBAR wants federal money to take in as many illegal immigrants as possible. Yet Gov. FUBAR can't get his own citizens back in their homes 5 years after Hurricane Sandy. BUTT he travels the Carribean to make sure THEY get all the help a Governor can get them even if he has no authority to do so
Got it, fuck the citizen of New Yorkistan when we can spend taxpayer money on a nice Carribean trip that is certain to accomplish nothing because he has no authority

 

[Apeman]

Why don't we all get together and sue N.Y. for every dime we've paid in state taxes. That money is supposed to go to N.Y. residents and their needs. I don't want my money paying to rebuild an other country. If those clowns want to help they can use vacation time and pay for their own flights.

 

[Cureforcancer]

Puerto Rico is in bad shape but any rican who believes Cuomo stands with them is either ignorant or a sell out.
Yesterday i saw a video by the Mayor of Yauco where my fam is located praising the prick. My blood pressure went through the roof.
The mayor made a deal with the devil. That prick Cuomo has never and will never have good intentions. The stupidity of many of my fellow ricans is frustrating.

 

[masterswimmer]

Yesterday i saw a video by the Mayor of Yauco where my fam is located praising the prick. My blood pressure went through the roof.
The mayor made a deal with the devil. That prick Cuomo has never and will never have good intentions. The stupidity of many of my fellow ricans is frustrating.

You can bet the ranch that there is personal gain built in for the mayor of Yauco. Corruption from monkeyface knows no bounds.

Edit: oh yeah, FUAC

 

[Cureforcancer]

You can bet the ranch that there is personal gain built in for the mayor of Yauco. Corruption from monkeyface knows no bounds.

Edit: oh yeah, FUAC

Thanks!!

 

[Duke]

 

[Acer-m14]

FUAC moving the empty solar factory to Rico ... FUAC ...