I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened."

It's chaos; it's pandemonium out here," said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3 1/2 hours at the site and had circled the block five times. "It seems like nobody has any answers."

Added Damon: "I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened."

Damon, 42, had already been displaced to Brooklyn from his home in Queens, where he still lacked power, as did millions outside Manhattan - from Staten Island, the hardest-hit borough, to Westchester County and other suburban areas.

Domingo Isasi, waiting in a gas line on Staten Island, minced no words about the divide he perceived between Manhattan and the outer boroughs.


(AP) Volunteer Christina Wilson, left, helps clean up the kitchen of the Ventura family, which was...
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"The priorities are showing, simply by the fact that Manhattan got their power back," he said, adding that Staten Islanders are used to being lower on the list. "We're the bastard kids who keep getting slapped in the head and told to shut up," he said.

[link to apnews.myway.com]