Opinion

Hurricane’s aftermath: Overcoming the challenges

Damage left by Hurricane Sandy in Bay Head, NJ.EPA (EPA)

The Issue: How government and residents have dealt with the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy.

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With all of the ongoing problems — power outages, property destruction, loss of homes and lives — what I am most appalled by is the arrogance of everyone who took the first opportunity to get in their cars and drive into Manhattan (“The Long Slog Back,” Editorial, Nov. 1).

As I sit in my apartment on the East Side, listening to the sound of ambulances, I realize just how selfish many New Yorkers are.

Did they absolutely have to drive into Manhattan? Probably not. And yet, there they were, honking their horns. Shame on them.

Amy Ostrau

Manhattan

President Obama’s mantra of never letting a crisis go to waste is on full display, acting as commander in chief during Hurricane Sandy, on the eve of the presidential election.

Helping people in a disaster is a good thing.

However, it does not excuse his dereliction of duty in the deadly terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the loss of four patriots’ lives — or his abdication of responsibility to our economy and national security.

Daniel B. Jeffs

Apple Valley, Calif.

Sandy, the “perfect storm,” showed Obama to be the perfect president to handle it.

Before the first breezes of Superstorm Sandy ruffled our hair, Obama was making arrangements for emergency relief for possible victims.

When the fear became a reality, he was ready and implemented all necessary government measures and also visited the troubled sites at the critical tail-end of the presidential race.

Regarding government response, this was no Hurricane Katrina scenario.Nicholas Zizelis

Amagansett

Using the Midwest’s “Tornado Alley” as a point of comparison, it would be interesting to see how many residents of New York and New Jersey have turned to each other instead of relying on the government.

Is the spirit of rugged individualism and self-sufficiency still alive in the liberal Northeast, or has dependency created a new America incapable of self-reliance?

George Mitchell

Blairsville, Ga.

Sandy is yet another example of why all levels of government should be required not only to balance their annual budgets, but run surpluses for natural disasters and other emergencies.

We need to stop wasting our tax dollars by ending entitlement programs geared toward people who are not physically or mentally disabled.

The role of government should be to provide the essentials and create surpluses to aid Americans in need.

I live in Staten Island, and we need help to rebuild. There is pure devastation here.

It’s too bad that most good-hearted Americans who would like to donate probably do not have enough money to, because the federal government has been over-taxing their income and giving their hard-earned money to people who simply choose not to work.

Matthew Nugent

Staten Island

Now that Sandy is gone, we are suffering the after-effects of power outages.

Obama should have just singled out one thing with the stimulus of over $800 billion: doing away with our archaic way of supplying power, with wires hanging all over the place, instead of being underground.

Obama talked about shovel-ready jobs. This project could have started the next day.

What else would have been more shovel-ready and more needed?

The money was wasted, and now we are at Mother Nature’s mercy. Bruce Mark

Hopewell Junction