Cuomo: 'Things will be getting back to normal'

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That, of course, came as little consolation to Long Beach residents, who have expressed frustration with not only the loss of power, but long gas lines and lack of water and sewer services in the city. On Friday, Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford said that she was on a conference call with LIPA and said that it could be two weeks before the city has power because Long Beach is in a flood zone.

"We're not going to have power restored in about two weeks, hopefully it will better than that," she said.

On Sunday, the city said that LIPA completed its damage assessment of Long Beach, and that 50 LIPA crews are working throughout the city. The city is demanding that the agency provide a specific timeline for power restoration.

The city's water and sewer system, on the other hand, may be restored sometime this week. Since the storm hit, the city’s water treatment facility has been inoperable, after it lost power and the storm surge damaged a back-up generator, leaving residents without running water and unable to pump out sewers. Nassau County health officials warned Long Beach residents that the tap water was not safe to use, even when boiled, and residents were advised to turn their water off.

“Water and sewer is starting to come back," city spokesman Gordon Tepper said on Friday. "There was a major breakthrough today; they had to get the pressure back to a certain level. The next phase is now flushing the hydrants, and when that flushing is done, the water has to be tested. Once that's completed, water and sewer will be back for everyone, which could be next week we hope."

On Sunday, the city said that it again flushed its hydrants and that water is now being tested. Safe drinking water, according to the city's website, is estimated to be restored mid-week. In the meantime, city officials are urging residents to conserve water, saying that too much use will slow the restoration process.

The gas shortage continues, and many Long Beach residents - the ones fortunate enough to have cars, anyway - say that getting gas has been a "nightmare." On Saturday, many residents waited for hours to get gas at the Hess station on Long Beach Road.

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