Sandy Showed us Where we Need Improvement.

Ben Vitale

Patchogue, NY: Decade after decade we keep dealing with hurricane related emergencies, in the same incompetent manner. To make things worse, the problems are identified but never solved!  

The pumps that are used in Gas Stations to pump Gasoline into our cars, are not very big; it is not unreasonable to mandate auxiliary power. Gas stations should be required,  to have auxiliary power in order to maintain their license. I have seen the "Gas station pump syndrome,"  manifest itself hurricane after hurricane. When will we learn that we must repair our infrastructure in order to avoid future catastrophes.

There is absolutely no excuse to justify the almost complete lack of Gasoline in our area. FEMA should sponsor and preside over a Suffolk County Emergency Fuel Storage Area.  As far as I have seen, most  Gas Stations in our area are closed, except the Hess Gas station on 112.

The refineries should be set-up in an elevated  inland area, where it will not be vulnerable to storm surges. Sometimes I question the human mentality; if a donkey knows enough to stay away from the surf during a storm, why do we continue to build infrastructure in vulnerable places? If the industry chooses to build fuel depots in vulnerable locations, the infrastructure should be built on steel platforms to isolate it from storm surges. Refineries should  have an emergency  generator, that is  big enough to power pumping equipment that is used to fill Gas Tankers.  It is not unreasonable to mandate emergency  auxiliary power, for pumping at refineries.

The coast guard stopped some tanker traffic because the hurricane moved some navigation buoys. OK... Change the Buoy mooring weight from a 2,000 pound moorings to 200,000 pound moorings; that should be able to hold the Buoys in place. The coast guard should use their sophisticated GPS equipment to escort the tankers into port, instead of turning them away. This is not rocket science! If the existing system fails; fix it! "Just do it!"

I believe that all facilities that are used to unload tankers, should be required to have emergency power to operate their pumps. These emergency generators must be protected by installing them on a platform.  How many times must we make the same mistake?  Gasoline is our lifeline and we must maintain an uninterrupted supply before we can start to rebuild.

Search for food and Water; why should we have to search for food and water in time of emergency. There is an old Boy Scout slogan, " prior planning prevents poor performance!"  Through the years the same scenario repeats itself! What does it take to make us realize that we need a contingency plan that actually works! How about federal money to purchase and maintain emergency generating equipment, that will allow our supermarkets to stay open in time of an emergency. A few super markets in our area have upgraded their facility with generators, but many have not. How about additional water supply tanks in series with our existing infrastructure? This is not Rocket Science; this is just Horse sense! Federal money is wasted for so many other projects; how about doing something for the taxpayer?

We need a federally funded Emergency Task Force, possible connected with the National Guard. The logistics of dropping massive amounts of food and water to a disaster area, should have the same training benefit as dropping military equipment.

I have almost zero confidence in our government to solve our energy problems. Most of our politicians do not have the will do deal with natural emergencies. When will we learn to question our elected officials at election time?

Comments?
(Left click "Comments," below)
* Our Thanks to Google/ Blogger for Hosting Our Site.