Where was New Jersey's preparation for Hurricane Sandy?

It is evident that New Jersey was not prepared for Hurricane Sandy. It does not matter how many press conferences Governor Christie gives or how many times it is said that the utility companies are "working very hard" -- that all means nothing when faced with the reality of the situation.

If the state had been truly ready for a super storm like Sandy, over 400,000 New Jersey residents would not still be without power. There would be no gas rationing.

Of course, considering that San­dy was the worst natural disaster to ever hit the state, it is under­standable that many homes lost heat and electricity.

Even worse, a snowy nor'easter again robbed power from people, many of whom just got it back. But that does not completely ex­cuse the utility companies, espe­cially since thousands of addition­al crews were apparently imported into New Jersey from out of state prior to the hurricane.

If they are doing such a "good job" as Christie recently put it, where are the results?

Why are hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents continu­ing to suffer in the cold?

It should not take this long to restore power. There is simply no way the utility companies were entirely pre­pared for a situation like Sandy.

The gas shortage is absolutely outrageous because it could have easily been prevented. The prima­ry reason why there are such long lines at stations is because many stations that have gasoline are without the electricity to pump it.

If New Jersey required gas sta­tions to have access to a genera­tor, like Florida demands for many of its stations, the Garden State would possess a larger supply of fuel.

Instead, state lawmakers chose not to plan ahead for a disaster like Sandy. As a result people are forced to relive the 1970's, wait­ing for hours to receive gasoline at stations that very well could run out.

What makes matters worse is that many people with power re­fuse to understand what less for­tunate people are going through. They were not inconvenienced by the storm, so they behave as if oth­ers are not going through a very difficult time.

For example, employers are threatening to fire workers who do not return to their jobs, even if they are still dealing with the ef­fects of Sandy. Acting normally will not put things back to normal. Sandy did happen and people are still suffering.

Although my home was without power for a week, I was fortu­nate to stay in my grandmother's house which was unaffected by the storm.

Others are not so lucky. Many have lost everything as a result of Sandy, and they need help. No, New Jersey was not prepared for the hurricane, but what matters now is aiding those with nothing. Give to the Red Cross, donate to the nearest shelter, and pray for those in need. Thank God things were not worse.

Sean Quinn is a junior journal­ism major from Cranford, NJ. He can be reached at sean.quinn@student.shu.edu.