Power Back on in Lower Manhattan, New York City

Posted November 3rd, 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC-5)
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The lights are back on in New York City's lower Manhattan while other parts of the city still struggle with no electricity, no gasoline, and falling temperatures.

Cheers could be heard throughout lower Manhattan as the power came back Saturday. The neighborhood has been in the dark since Superstorm Sandy caused an explosion at a city power station.

Residents emerged from apartment buildings and townhouses and headed to stores and coffee shops.

But the misery continues elsewhere in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. President Barack Obama said Saturday that making sure storm victims get their basic needs is his “number one priority.”

The Pentagon has set up five mobile gasoline stations in the New York area. Most commercial service stations still have no electricity to pump fuel. Those that are open are running low with cars and their ill-tempered drives stretching for blocks.

With overnight temperatures expected to fall into the single digits all week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging people without power, especially the elderly, to head to a shelter to keep warm and have a hot meal.

Early estimates have put the storm damage along the east coast between $20 billion and $50 billion.