Mother Nature showed her cruel side when she dumped several inches of snow on already-devastated areas hit hard by Sandy. In New York, many of the teams that traveled to help restore power and civility to the hard-hit areas found themselves in increased danger due to the snowstorm that followed the hurricane.
Road conditions were reported to be especially dangerous but crews had to continue working to clear the debris in the roads while attempting to keep up with snow removal. Cold temperatures also created slick, icy roads that crews had to travel to get the job done. The Long Island Rail Road has just restored most of their normal schedules but the nor’easter made transportation problems for rail workers and commuters. Weather delays and cancelations occurred resulting in much longer wait times.
This double-jeopardy situation created by the weather patterns put many volunteer recovery teams at serious risk for injury. Not only did the icy roads make travel very dangerous, the debris that was not able to be cleared posed a threat to all outside workers. Downed trees and power lines made it difficult to get to some locations to help and also halted many of the restoration and recovery efforts. Workers who flocked from all over the country faced live wires, freezing flood waters, and stopped work projects as the snow fell. High winds during the snowstorm caused loose debris to fly around putting worker’s safety at risk.
Recovery efforts after the first storm were already dangerous, especially because of the lack of power and the scarcity of gasoline. With the added stressors of the snowfall, many workers were overtaxed, fatigued, and frustrated by the frequent delays and poor weather conditions. As weather conditions improve over the next few days, it is expected restoration and recovery efforts will go non-stop until all power is restored and debris is removed.
If you have been working with recovery efforts throughout New York and have suffered an injury on the job, contact our legal team today to discuss your worker’s rights to compensation for your injuries. You can reach us toll free at 888-799-3918 or use our online contact information for more details.
