The Real Lesson of Hurricane Sandy: NYC Is Ill Prepared for a Real Disasterby
Robert Wenzel Recently by Robert Wenzel: What's Behind the Swiss Gearing Up for Major Unrest Through Out Europe?
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most severe, Hurricane Sandy can be ranked somewhere between a 2 and 3 as far as an emergency for New York City. There were very few deaths or injuries as a result of the hurricane, though property damage will be in the billions of dollars. What is important to recognize, however, is that the low level emergency revealed just how unprepared the city is for a major catastrophe that includes the loss of power. It's clear now that while the Mayor of NYC holds press conferences on the size of cups that should be allowed for sugary drinks, no one has been checking on the capabilities of NYC hospitals to survive a power outage during an emergency. NYU Hospital had to be evacuated because of generator failures, after ConEd power went out, and Bellevue Hospital was within an hour of being evacuated, before a human chain snaked to the hospitals 13th floor to deliver 5 gallon containers of fuel the hospital did not have on hand for an emergency. The hospital also ran out of oxygen containers. Thus, while Mayor Bloomberg will do all kinds of posing on television today, the fact of the matter is government did not provide basic checks to determine if hospitals could provide services in a power outage related emergency. Hurricane Sandy has revealed the true state of affairs, government as protector is a myth. It's pretty much all show – all talk and no generator checks. If you really want to protect yourself during a crisis make sure you have your own stockpile of food, clothing, weapons and an electric generator. Government officials and elitists will pooh, pooh the necessity of doing this as wild west, right wing thinking, but watch what the elitists do not what they say. Here's what Goldman Sachs did before the storm hit. They certainly weren't depending on the government to protect them. And reports indicated that, through out the night, lights remained on in the Goldman Sachs building, while the rest of Wall Street was dark. Which means GS had their own functional power generator(s), better than those at NYU Hospital or Bellevue. Also, the leftist Paul Krugman reported that he had his own private generator operating to keep his residence with power, after power went out in Princeton. Take the lesson
from these elitists, be prepared on your own for emergencies, government
will only be on the scene much too late, if at all. Reprinted with permission from Economic Policy Journal. October 31, 2012 ©2012 Economic Policy Journal
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