A housing crisis loomed in New York City as victims of superstorm Sandy struggled on Sunday against near-freezing temperatures and officials fretted that displaced voters would not be able to cast ballots in Tuesday's presidential election.
Fuel shortages and power outages lingered nearly a week after one of the worst storms in U.S. history flooded homes in coastal neighborhoods, leaving many without heat and in need of shelter. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 30,000 to 40,000 people in New York City alone would need housing.
Overnight, at least two more bodies were found in New Jersey as the overall U.S. death toll from Sandy climbed to at least 111.
"People are in homes that are uninhabitable," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said alongside Bloomberg at a news conference. "People don't like to leave their home, but the reality is going to be in the temperature."
Officials were figuring out how to provide short- and long-term housing for tens of thousands of people, Cuomo said, without giving details about where the displaced would be housed.
Temperatures dipped to 39 Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) early on Sunday morning in New York City, the lowest in days, with freezing temperatures expected on Monday. An early-season "Nor'easter" storm was expected to hit the battered New England coast this week with strong winds and heavy rain.
Fuel supplies continued to rumble toward disaster zones and electricity was slowly returning to darkened neighborhoods, after the storm hit the coast last Monday.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/04/us-storm-sandy-hurricane-idUSBRE89N16J20121104
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