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| A sign proclaiming a lack of valuables inside is posted in the door of a veterinary clinic on a storm- and fire-ravaged block in Rockaway Beach, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in the the Queens borough of New York. Weather experts have some good news for beleaguered coastal residents in the Northeast: A new storm that threatened to complicate Hurricane Sandy cleanup efforts now looks like it will be weaker than expected. |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Richard Chan prowled around his cold, dark Staten Island home with knives and a sword to protect it from thieves, standing his ground as another East Coast storm threatened and police went through neighborhoods with loudspeakers warning people to get out.
"I still have some valuables. I just can't leave it," he said Tuesday. "I just don't want to lose my stuff to some dirtbag."
While
city officials strongly encouraged storm-ravaged communities to seek
higher ground before Wednesday's nor'easter, Chan was among a group who
adamantly refused to leave, choosing to stick close to the belongings
they have left.
Since the superstorm made
landfall more than a week ago, killing 40 people in the city, more than
100 in 10 states and leaving millions without power, police said overall
crime has actually gone down, not up. There are few reports of looting
storm-damaged homes.
But Alex Ocasio wasn't
convinced. The nursing home worker planned to ride out the latest storm
in his first-floor Rockaway apartment - even after seeing cars float by
his front door during Sandy.
As the water
receded, men dressed in dark clothes broke down the door and were
surprised to find him and other residents inside. "They tried to say
they were rescue workers, then took off," he said.
He
put up a handmade sign - "Have gun. Will shoot U" - outside his
apartment and started using a bed frame to barricade the door. He has
gas, so he keeps on the oven and boils water to stay warm at night. "It
gets a little humid, but it's not bad," he said. "I'm staying. Nothing
can be worse than what happened last week."
In
the Rockaways, one of the worst-hit areas, nightfall brings with it
fears of looting, burglaries - even armed robberies. The idyllic seaside
boardwalk was in ruins, streets were covered with sand and cars
scattered like trash.
"You can't go there
after dark anymore," said 57-year-old construction worker William Gavin,
pointing to a battered, lower-income section of his beachfront
community. "It's a good way to get a gun pulled on you."
Earlier
this week, a retired police officer fired warning shots at someone
trying to break into her home in the middle of the night, said Sean
Kavanagh.
"I don't blame her," said Kavanagh, also a retired officer. "I would have done the same."
Kavanagh says he's staying home, in part to protect it. "I leave and anything can happen," he said. "It's open season."
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it wasn't wise to stay put.
"I think your life is more important than property," he said.
Kelly
said police have arrested 123 people citywide since the storm blew in
last week, 54 burglary arrests and 41 others stemming from gas line
disputes. Police said the majority were in areas suffering from the
storm.
"You would think, under the circumstances, you would see much more," Kelly said. "We haven't seen that."
Burglaries were up 6 percent citywide compared to the same period last year, but overall crime was down 27 percent, police said.
More
than 1 million people remained without power on Tuesday, and
forecasters said the nor'easter headed to the region on Wednesday could
still bring 50 mph winds gusts to New York and New Jersey, an inch of
rain and a storm surge of 3 feet.
"I know it's been a long, long eight days," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The
storm fallout didn't deter voters in the most battered areas, with
heavy turnout in New York and New Jersey. Cuomo had given displaced New
Yorkers the right to vote at any polling place in the state.
With
the temperatures dropping into the 30s overnight, people in dark,
unheated homes were urged to go to overnight shelters or daytime warming
centers. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would ask - but not force -
people to leave some low-lying shore areas hit by Sandy ahead of
Wednesday's storm.
Later Tuesday evening, the
mayor ordered three nursing homes and an adult care facility evacuated
from the Rockaways because of fears the weather might knock out
electricity already being provided by generators. About 620 residents
were being moved.
Bloomberg said in a normal autumn, the storm wouldn't be a big deal and wouldn't warrant evacuations.
But
"out of precaution and because of the changing physical circumstances,
we are going to go to some small areas and ask those people to go to
higher ground," the mayor said.
He was closing parks, playgrounds and beaches, and property owners were ordered to secure construction sites.
Willamae
Cooper, 63, rode out Sandy in her apartment in the beachfront Dayton
Towers complex in the Rockaways. By Tuesday, Cooper had seen enough. She
decided to leave for her daughter's house on Staten Island, rather than
have a front row seat to another storm.
"After that first one, God knows what could happen," she said.
