American Notes Disasters

In the hardy tradition of laughing in the face of adversity, many Northeastern residents allowed as how it was unusual, almost fun, to go without electricity for a day or two after Hurricane Gloria. But eight or nine? At the end of last week, large numbers of those same citizens still could not use their refrigerators, electric pumps or televisions. While power had been restored to more than 2 million customers, some 100,000 in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts remained in the dark, and the novelty of making do had worn off.

In Massachusetts, residents of Brockton marched against the local office of Edison Electric. Rhode Island Governor Edward DiPrete ordered an investigation of utilities' storm readiness, while Long Islanders fumed over the fact that the chairman of Lilco, the often bumbling local utility, was holidaying in Europe while they groped in the dark. In desperation Lilco distributed 100 tons of dry ice to residents who were watching their food spoil. All told, Gloria did less damage than expected by meteorologists and hyperactive news organizations, but its misery was prolonged.