Another Conspiracy Theory Becomes Reality

FEMA spokesman Scott Sanders denied that the project was in anyway connected to
FEAM stating in a report by Deborah Bell, ”We might provide provisions, but we
don’t run shelters,” Sanders said when asked if the tents
were to be used for people displaced by Hurricane Sandy. Across the Arthur Kill
from Woodbridge, Staten Island
residents who were devastated by last week’s hurricane and storm surge are
still homeless.

A spokesman in the office of Linden Mayor Richard Gerbounka
said the tents were to be used for utility workers from out of state who had
flooded New Jersey
after the hurricane hit.

It is true that many utility workers were working in the central New Jersey
area to restore power since last week. But in a conference call Friday, the
last one of the Hurricane Sandy media updates, PSEG President Ralph LaRossa said that he expected the workers to begin leaving by
Sunday or Monday.

The tent city was put up only in the past few days, so it wouldn’t seem to be
needed for out-of-state utility workers whose emergency work here was largely
completed.

The Union County Office of Emergency Management also said the tents were to
house utility workers, but they, too, had nothing to do with it, according to
spokesman Sebastian D’elia. As of Friday, “ten percent of the county still
doesn’t have power,” he said, so he wasn’t anxious to see the utility workers
leave before electrical service was restored.