Long Island residents in New York protest against power outage

Residents of New York’s Long Island have staged a protest over the persisting power outages and fuel shortage nearly two weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit the US East Coast.

On Saturday, hundreds of residents protested outside the headquarters of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) for the second consecutive day.

The protesters lashed out at the LIPA over its slow performance in power restoration compared with the other storm-hit areas, and called for bringing criminal charges against the CEO and the executive board of the company for failure to fulfill their obligations.

Meanwhile, travel chaos and long lines for gasoline continue across New York and New Jersey.

Around 130,000 blacked-out homes and businesses may not have electricity until the end of Tuesday, the power company says.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for a probe into the causes of LIPA’s delayed reaction.

On Friday, two congressmen from Long Island asked for the Federal government’s assistance to restore power in the area.

“It is a totally disorganized effort, and LIPA unfortunately seems to have lost control of the situation and that’s why you see so many people becoming so angry,” said lawmaker Peter King.

Over a quarter of a million Americans are without electricity; more than 170,000 of them are Long Island residents.

Superstorm Sandy smashed into the US East Coast on October 29, killing at least 120 people and causing an estimated 50 billion dollars in damage or economic losses.