Sandy victims receive power bills despite weeks of blackouts

Victims of Superstorm Sandy have received another shock during the Thanksgiving holiday when electrical bills were sent to them with regular usage rates despite the long-running blackouts.

On Thursday, Sandy victims on Long Island, New York were hit with another misery by being charged their usual full estimated rates from Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) even though they did not have any electricity for weeks after the fatal storm.

“I can’t get LIPA to acknowledge my existence on earth to talk to me about anything,” said one victim Jonathan Saporta, adding, “But I guess they had power, so they could print my bills.”

When asked what he will do with the power bill, Saporta said, “I am not paying any of my bills; that much I promise.”

He went on to say that “They can put me into collections, and I’ll fight them tooth-and-nail. It’s simply criminal.”

“To get this message on Thanksgiving was crass and classless. It’s just heartless,” said Michael Hilferty, who had not lived in his property since October 29.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, many damaged houses in the affected areas of New York were looted as their residents were away celebrating with families.

Still today, thousands of New Yorkers are without power even though Sandy devastated the area almost one month ago on October 29.

The storm claimed 103 lives and plunged more than 8.2 million people into darkness, more than three million of them in New York and New Jersey.