Anarchy Along The Jersey Shore And On Long Island In The Aftermath Of Hurricane SandyMichael Snyder, Contributor At the moment, there are still approximately 4.7 million homes and businesses that do not have power. Officials say that some of those homes and businesses may not have their power restored until the weekend of November 10th and 11th. Meanwhile, it is getting very cold at night. This weekend the low temperatures on Long Island are supposed to dip into the upper thirties. There have been reports of people diving into dumpsters behind supermarkets in a desperate search for food, and there have been other reports of roaming gangs of criminals posing as officials from FEMA or Con Edison and then robbing families at gunpoint once they have gained entrance into their homes. If people will behave like this during a temporary emergency that lasts only a few days, what would they do during a total economic collapse? That is a frightening thing to think about. Most gas stations along the Jersey shore and on Long Island are either totally out of gasoline or they dont have any power to operate the gas pumps. It is estimated that more than half of all gas stations in New York City are closed at the moment, and officials say that more than 80 percent of all gas stations in New Jersey are not able to sell gas right now. So needless to say, the lines at the gas stations that remain open are horrific. The following is how one New Jersey mayor described the situation There have even been reports of people literally fighting each other over gasoline According to Breitbart, there have been continuous reports of fistfights and people bringing guns to gas stations on Twitter. The following are a couple of examples Unfortunately, authorities are projecting that the gas shortage may last for another week at least. How angry and frustrated will people get by that time? There are vast stretches of the Jersey Shore and the coast of Long Island that will never be the same again. The following is an excerpt from a comment that a reader of mine from Long Island left on one of my recent articles This was not just another storm. It was a life-altering event for millions of people. Unfortunately, just as we have seen after every other major storm in recent years, looters are taking advantage of the chaos caused by Hurricane Sandy. According to the New York Post, a number of arrests for looting have already been made on Long Island Over on Coney Island, looting appeared to be out of control during the immediate aftermath of the storm Amazingly, a number of not-so-smart looters have actually been displaying their looted goods on Twitter. Just check out the shocking photos in this article. But most people living in the areas that were most affected by Hurricane Sandy are decent people that just want some assistance. One resident of Hoboken, New Jersey became so frustrated that he inflated an air mattress and used it to float down to city hall in an attempt to get some answers Just like we saw after Hurricane Katrina, the response by the federal government and by big aid agencies such as the Red Cross has been very slow. In fact, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro has gone so far as to call the Red Cross an absolute disgrace and is urging people that live in his area to quit giving money to them If this is how angry and frustrated that people become over a temporary disaster, how angry and frustrated would they get if there was a total economic meltdown that was permanent? Sadly, the truth is that what we are seeing during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is just a very small preview of what is coming on a national level. Our economy is a complete and total mess right now, and things are going to get a whole lot worse. And as we are seeing along the Jersey Shore and on Long Island right now, desperate people do desperate things. Hopefully Hurricane Sandy will serve as a wake-up call for millions of American families. Time is definitely running out, and we all need to get prepared while we still can. This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 