Troops deliver food, rescue trapped Hoboken residents

By Doug Stanglin, USA TODAYShare


The city appealed to residents to donate bottled water, perishable food and portable generators for stranded neighbors


Vihaan Gadodia, 2, is handed from a National Guard truck after he and his family left a flooded building in Hoboken, N.J., Wednesday in the wake of superstorm Sandy.(Photo: Craig Ruttle AP)

2:08PM EDT October 31. 2012 - New Jersey National Guard troops distributed food, delivered dry clothing and evacuated some of the thousands of Hoboken residents -- including newborns and a woman in labor -- trapped for two days by the surging waters of the Hudson River.

Troops in high-wheeled vehicles began arriving just before midnight Tuesday to the city of 50,000 located directly across from Manhattan.
"Multiple National Guard trucks will be coming through flooded streets, first to evacuate those with true medical emergencies," the city told residents on its Facebook page. "Keep an eye out, go down to the lowest possible floor, but do not go outside. Signal to get their attention."

About half the city was flooded when the hurricane slammed the region Monday night, pushing water up the Hudson River and over its banks.

City officials said 85% city residents are still without power.

At the National Guard staging area in front of City Hall, a man screamed at emergency officials, the Associated Press reports.

He says he blew up an air mattress to float over to City Hall from his home a few blocks away to see why no supplies were getting out.
Joel Mestre, the city's deputy emergency management coordinator, said people with medical emergencies had top priority, The Star-Ledgerreported.

"After we're done with them, then we're gonna go back and then just start taking out the regular evacuees," Mestre said. "It's gonna be a long process, but we're gonna do it."

Among those rescued already were families with a five-day-old baby and a three-week-old baby, as well as a pregnant woman going into labor, he said.
Th
e city, meanwhile, asked people with generators and boats to bring them to City Hall, which is on dry ground and powered by a backup generator. Officials also appealed for bottled water and non-perishable food.In addition to evacuation duties, the Guard was also called in to help pump out the millions of gallons of water mixed with sewage that officials said was a growing health hazard.

Members of the National Guard and Hoboken police ride a large truck through floodwaters used to pluck people to safety in Hoboken, N.J., on Oct. 31 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: Craig Ruttle, AP)

"We've got live wires in the waters, and the waters are completely contaminated and getting more contaminated," Mayor Dawn Zimmer told MSNBC.

North Hudson Sewerage Authorities estimated there are 500 million gallons of water that need to be removed. The city said it would take 24 to 48 hours to get rid of it through a combination of natural flow from low tides and pumps that can remove 75 million gallons per day.
Although a curfew has been lifted, Zimmer urged residents not to go out until the water subsided.

"For your own safety, we need everyone to be inside," she said. "We know this is difficult for Hoboken residents, but we appreciate that during this time so many residents are coming together to help each other through this storm."

Some residents with power were helping out those without electricity by using extension cords to set ut ad hoc charging stations, The Jersey Journalreported.

Hoboken residents Angelo Valente and his wife told the newspaper they just connected some power strips to an extension cord leading out of their brownstone and let passersby plug in.

"This is such a simple opportunity to help in this really difficult time," Valente told The Journal.

Polina Pinkhasova, a 27-year-old engineering student, has been volunteering at a shelter in the city, where water is still 3 feet deep in spots and the power remains out.

"Once the sun sets, complete darkness," she told the Associated Press. "You really can't see anything."

Her house is on dry land, but she has seen evidence of price-gouging, saying she paid $14 at one store for three small bags of chips and a small bottle of cranberry juice.

P.J. Molski, a 25-year-old graphic designer, said his place is dry but that his car, which he left parked on a flooded street, won't start.

Almost every basement apartment he has seen in the small city, which makes the most of its housing stock, is flooded, he told the AP.

"There are just pumps going all over the city of people trying to get the water out of their basement apartments," Molski said.

Troops deliver food, rescue trapped Hoboken residents