CAROLYNN IOANNONI/Special to Bullet News
Recently Niagara survived the weakened wrath of super storm Sandy barely affected. It is in stark contrast to the devastation in New Jersey, Staten Island and New York City.
Even with all the preparations, evacuations and warnings Sandy killed, destroyed homes and families and caused billions of dollars in damage. Whole towns in New Jersey were essentially under water. Power was lost to millions of household.
Some of the images were mind-boggling. Streets were turned into waterways. Tunnels filled up with water and cars had to be abandoned. Subway entrances were filled to the top of the stairs with floodwaters. Construction cranes broken and dangling over the street of NYC. Video of reporters out in waist deep waters to bring viewers up to date information had me yelling at the TV screen for them to get out of the storm and go inside.
Some areas had mandatory evacuation orders, for the safety of the residents. But despite days and days of media coverage and strong warnings and predictions there were people who actually refuse to leave their homes.
The prediction of power outages and storm surges were correct and millions are being forced to live without power, hot water, and food if they didn’t follow the warnings to stock up on essentials like water and non-perishables. So many did not and were not prepared.
Were you prepared? Do you have a 72-hour family emergency plan? Do you know your city emergency management plan?
Carolynn Ioannoni is a Niagara Falls city councillor. Click on the link above to see her video report.
