Nor'easter brings more woes to NYC area

NEW YORK (WIVB) - A Nor'easter is bringing more misery to parts of the East Coast hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.

The entire Long Island railroad was shut down again because of downed poles and power lines and the number of homes in the area without electricity is also once again on the rise. In Queens, which was hit especially hard by Sandy, the State Health Commissioner ordered the evacuation of residents from at least three nursing homes.

Snow started to fall at the top of the Empire State Building as a Nor'easter blew into New York Wednesday afternoon and several inches have already fallen in Manhattan. The son of News 4 Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg says the weather is like what he experienced growing up in Buffalo.

Michael Newberg said, "It actually feels like a blizzard in Buffalo that I've experienced. It's very cold out. People are really starting to complain and spirits are down."

In Middletown, New Jersery, the winds are kicking up again. And less than two weeks after Hurricane Sandy ravaged their homes and neighborhoods, residents are being told again they need to get out of harm's way.

Governor Chris Christie said, "And when I finally got that final kind of forecast that I got last night, I said I'm waiting for the locust and pestilence next."

Wet snow and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour could set back the cleanup from Sandy, and cause desperate people to do desperate things. State Troopers from western New York are rotating shifts on Long Island to try and keep the peace.

Sgt. Donald Gardon of Troop A said, "Tempers are extremely short, and each and every one of us has had to intervene at the gas lines."

Almost everyone hit hard on Long Island has a story, says Sgt. Gardon.

"Something being stolen, gas being siphoned. Gas siphoning is a huge problem," he said.

Gas is even being siphoned from boats washed up from the storm.

People have been washed out of their homes. There are piles of rubble outside, which is a similar image to the damage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. And on Long Island, sand is everywhere.

Lt. Steve Udice of Troop A said, "This sand resembles snow, in that there are inches and feet and feet in other areas, but it's not snow, it's sand."

But it is snow now in New York, a nasty hit from Mother Nature after Sandy.

Michael Newberg said, "Hurricane Sandy really took a toll on everyone here and this is really like another punch when you're down."

Michael Newberg's apartment near the East River had four feet of water in the lobby from Sandy. He is still without heat and hot water.

Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo fired Emergency Management Director Steven Kuhr after Kuhr diverted a Suffolk County crew to remove a tree from his Long Island driveway. Kuhr was making $153,000 a year.