Frigid weather brings more misery to Sandy survivors
NEW YORK — Polar air settled in earnest over the Northeast Thursday after trekking through the Midwest, grinding trains to a halt, bursting pipes and bringing further misery to folks still trying to recover from Superstorm Sandy.
In a damaged neighborhood near the beach on New York City’s Staten Island, people who haven’t had heat since the late October storm took refuge in tents set up by aid workers.
Propane heaters barely kept up with the cold, and workers provided sleeping bags and blankets for warmth.
Eddie Saman slept in a tent because the gaping hole in the roof of his home has rendered it uninhabitable — and unheatable.
“It’s very cold,” Saman said, “and mainly I sleep here next to the heater.”
For Anthony Cavallo, the cold was just another in a litany of aggravations that began when Sandy swept through his Union Beach, N.J., neighborhood and flooded his one-story house.
Still waiting for the goahead to rebuild, Cavallo and his family have been living in a trailer they bought once it became clear they couldn’t afford to rent.
Frigid weather froze the pipes Wednesday, something Cavallo’s 14-yearold daughter discovered when she tried to take a shower.
“Every day it’s something, whether it’s frozen pipes or getting jerked around for two months by insurance companies,” the 48-year-old security system installer said. “I just kind of want to wake up one day and have no surprises.”
Warmth is ahead
Warmer weather conditions should begin to moderate this weekend before returning to nor- mal, said John Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service regional headquarters in Bohemia, N.Y.
For the most part, temperatures Thursday were around 10 to 15 degrees below normal, with windy conditions making it feel colder, he said.
Keith Pelletier, the owner of Dolly’s Restaurant in Frenchville, Maine, said his customers were dressed in multiple layers of clothing and keeping their cars running in the parking lot while eating lunch. It was so cold that even the snowmobilers were staying home.
“You take the wind chill at 39 below and take a snowmobile going 50 mph, and you’re about double that,” he said. “That’s pretty cold.”