Voices in the Storm - Ruin and Uplift - NYTimes.com To the Editor: Re "After the Devastation, a Daunting Recovery" (front page, Oct. 31): Hurricane Sandy's havoc may have battered the Northeast in an unprecedented way, but the best of America and its indomitable spirit are at full throttle. Politics aside, these are times when we get a chance to be caring and concerned fellow human beings first. Hats off to the firefighters, police officers, utility workers, volunteers and emergency personnel who have put their safety on the line to protect lives. This is no ordinary storm, and to undo the damage, it may take herculean efforts from government and some basic cooperation from ordinary people, who need to heed the advisories and act prudently so that they do not put an undue burden on the recovery. Let us be grateful for the exemplary leadership and spirit of cooperation demonstrated by the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and in particular by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and President Obama for having put the safety and welfare of the affected people first. Average Americans are at their best in adversity; this is about the core American values we stand for. That said, as a New Yorker, I think that we can say we will soon be open for business as usual! ATUL M. KARNIK Woodside, Queens, Oct. 31, 2012 Re "For Years, Warnings That It Could Happen Here" (front page, Oct. 31): In light of the cautionary example from Hurricane Sandy, a direct question must be posed to the two presidential candidates as to the United States" response to climate change and rising seas. They should be challenged as to how their administrations would use good science. Warnings based on good science have come, but leaders often choose what accommodates their ideology. The country and the world are thus ill served. The writer is a professor of chemistry at Savannah State University. When President Obama called Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and offered him full support in view of Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Obama revealed the grand inclusiveness of his presidency. That action demonstrated that he is president not just of the Democrats, not just of the 53 percent or the 47 percent or the 1 percent, but of all Americans. But support is valuable only if it's worth something. President Obama's support can be relied upon. In fact, his fine executive skills and creative use of the executive branch appear to be an unacknowledged accomplishment in this election season. When we need the Federal Emergency Management Agency to run well, the president's capability is downright comforting. I was also heartened by the fine leadership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Governor Christie. The nonpartisan coordination and intelligence of these three men stand like a beacon of reassurance in the dreadful wash of the hurricane. C. SPEED Independence, Calif., Oct. 31, 2012 Re "A Big Storm Requires Big Government" (editorial, Oct. 30): A big storm (or any big emergency) doesn't ipso facto require big government; it requires capable, efficient government - large or small, local or national. Moreover, your argument is largely refuted merely by looking at New York and who is on the streets managing, directing, assisting and saving: local city and state government. In business, we used to say "think global, act local," which means that no large central bureaucracy can ever be as efficient as decentralized local operations that are intimately familiar with local conditions. What is required beyond that isn't so much big government as a big bank account to assist states that have lesser financial resources. Mitt Romney has it precisely right: states and municipalities should be in charge of their local disaster operations, and drawing as necessary on broad federal resources in the case of unusual emergencies and recovery. New York City needs more than just a large floodgate. The city needs to radically rethink its subgrade infrastructure with waterproof vaults for electrical, gas, fiber optic and cable lines. We need porous streets to manage our combined sewage overflows. We need to raise the grade of parts of Lower Manhattan and develop new open-space systems that can manage storm water and storm surge. Viable strategies ripe for development and implementation already exist. Now is the time for change. The writer is an architect.