Timeline of the New York City Housing Authority's Response 27 As Hurricane Sandy approaches, the New York City Housing Authority contacts tenant associations in its 26 developments in Zone A, with more than 45,000 residents, to review the evacuation plan. It begins shutting down elevators, boilers and electrical systems. 28 Nycha calls residents, knocks on doors and leaves fliers. The police use loudspeakers in certain complexes. Special effort is made with 3,296 mobility-disabled residents and 140 residents requiring life-sustaining equipment. Buses take Nycha residents to shelters - but only about 325 residents take them as of Monday. Citywide, only 6,820 residents show up at shelters - including Nycha residents and all others; most have remained in their apartments. 29 The hurricane makes landfall at about 8 p.m. Nycha officials estimate about half of the Zone A tenants and about 70 percent of the special needs population have evacuated. Approximately 100 Nycha staff members are assigned to "varying hurricane relief efforts," including checking on remaining special needs tenants. The agency cannot produce any log or count of actual visits. 30 Officials tally the impact: 402 buildings with 35,476 apartments housing nearly 80,000 residents had lost power - meaning the flood had extended far into Zone B, which had not been evacuated. Elevators are out of service. At 386 of those buildings - representing 76,817 residents - there is no heat or hot water because 26 boiler rooms with 85 separate boilers are underwater; boilers need to be replaced. 31 The Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz, says "the devastation is so widespread and overwhelming that it's in the best interest of all of our residents for a more significant National Guard presence to supplement the great work being done by our brave - but overwhelmed - first responders." Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says it is not necessary: "The N.Y.P.D. is the only people we want on the street with guns." 1 The city begins to distribute food and water at Nycha developments, with supplies delivered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The mayor's office organizes a half-dozen nonprofit groups and a small number of National Guard troops to canvass door to door. Some teams are unable to get into many buildings, as the National Guard was not present with each group, and building owners were not notified in advance. 2 Nycha contacts Ware Inc. in Louisville, Ky., for help locating rental boilers. It will take Ware about a week to find and transport the boilers - from its own inventory and from industry competitors. 3 The city asks the Army Corps of Engineers for assistance to restore power at Nycha housing. The corps, without updated lists of generator requirements for each buildings, sends teams to each Nycha building to figure out what kind of generator is needed. Mayor Bloomberg visits Hamel Houses, a Nycha complex, in the Rockaways in Queens. 4 Overnight temperatures drop into the 30s. Most Nycha basements have been pumped dry, but no generators have been installed. Members of ad hoc volunteer groups like People's Relief arrive at Coney Island Houses in Brooklyn, a site they chose after comparing Consolidated Edison's power failure map to a map of income distribution. 5 One hundred fourteen buildings housing 21,000 people are still without electricity; 174 buildings housing 35,000 people still need heat and hot water. Mr. Bloomberg says: "There's no question that the continuing lack of electrical service is jeopardizing the health and safety of people living in affected areas." He predicts that power and heat issues at most Nycha buildings will be resolved within two to four days. Mobile medical vans with primary care providers are at assistance centers in the Rockaways and Coney Island, as well as two additional high-need locations in the Rockaways. 6, ELECTION DAY One hundred sixty-two buildings with 14,376 units and 33,583 residents still without heat and hot water, while 85 buildings with 6,615 units and an estimated 15,133 residents are without electricity. Hundreds of teachers visit public housing complexes in Brooklyn to evaluate residents" needs. Generators are delivered in large numbers from various suppliers. Mr. Bloomberg acknowledges a delay in hooking them up: "The problem at this point is when we have a generator, you've got to get qualified people to install it." Free food trucks, sponsored by Mayor's Fund, visit Nycha complexes. 7 City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr. of Brooklyn, based on dire needs identified in some cases by teachers, helps arrange medical crews for immediate response, with the National Guard and dozens of ambulances. 8 The first generators are installed at Nycha, at Ocean Bay Apartments Bayside. Electricians hired under emergency city contracts start 16-hour shifts at the Red Hook public housing complex to rebuild a switching system. A contractor is hired to clean Nycha buildings. 9 The first temporary boilers for Nycha are installed at Gravesend Houses in Coney Island. Mr. Bloomberg predicts, "By tonight or tomorrow, every one of their buildings will have electricity and by early next week they will all have heat." 10 The city for the first time starts a formal medical assessment effort to reach out to the high-rise buildings, with teams going door to door. 11 Thirty-three buildings remain without power; 96 with more than 18,000 residents are without heat and hot water. 12 About 2,200 apartments, housing 5,000 residents, are without power; 7,000 apartments are still without heat and hot water. The city sets up prepared/hot food distribution sites at about a dozen locations, including at Nycha's Beach 41st Street Community Center in the Rockaways. 13 Ninety-four buildings throughout 13 developments affecting about 18,019 residents remain without heat. Nycha, working with the Visiting Nurse Service, makes a door-to-door effort in Red Hook East and Red Hook West buildings, finding 220 residents who request food, water or blankets; 144 who need medical assistance; and 44 who need prescriptions refilled. Six are transferred to a hospital. 14 Nycha announces it has restored power to all of its buildings, although it is intermittent in some places as power is still coming from generators. Eleven developments in the Rockaways, the Coney Island area and Red Hook are still without heat and hot water, representing 15,743 residents in 81 buildings. Nycha residents from Red Hook hold a community meeting to protest a continued lack of heat and hot water. 15 Mobile medical teams have canvassed more than 41,000 apartments and reached more than 26,400 people in Nycha properties, rental buildings and single-family homes. City officials say that only about 400 people have medical needs requiring immediate attention, and that only 44 have been transported to a hospital. Seventy-six buildings affecting 14,636 residents remain without heat. Service has been restored to 651 of the 699 elevators affected by the storm. 16 Eighteen buildings throughout seven developments affecting 4,747 residents remain without heat. The FEMA Community Relations Limited English Proficiency team begins to canvass around Coney Island Houses; FEMA begins its first door-to-door effort in the neighborhood. "The residents are elderly and many speak only Russian," an agency statement says. Some are stranded on high floors of buildings without functioning elevators. Most have not registered with FEMA for federal assistance. 17 Fifteen buildings throughout four developments affecting 3,676 residents remain without heat. 18 Heat and hot water is restored to 100 percent of Nycha buildings.