the city that never sleeps takes a nap

READING COMPREHENSION. ADVANCED LEVEL

Reading task by Mª Jesús García San Martín.

Source: edtion. cnn.com

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Irene fails to wow New Yorkers

New York (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Irene's swipe at the Big Apple proved Sunday that

New Yorkers can be a tough crowd to impress.

"I slept through the whole thing," said James Trager, a writer who watched nature's

display of fury as it took place outside the windows of his apartment in Midtown.

"Nothing. It's exaggerated."

"I think we're all surprised how relatively quickly the storm blew through here and the

rain stopped," said Steve Kastenbaum, a national correspondent for CNN radio, who

watched the storm from the comfort of his apartment in the Boerum Hill section of

Brooklyn.

He said he saw lots of local street flooding and branches in the streets, but few

uprooted trees. Even during the height of the storm, people were walking on the

street. "I even saw one or two folks taking a jog," he said. "I kid you not. Pretty typical

for Brooklyn. They're not going to let anybody get in their way."

While the initial effects of the storm were less harsh than anticipated, officials are still

concerned about flooding from heavy rains that could affect electrical systems and

other infrastructure that is largely underground.




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Gov. Mario Cuomo said it was not yet clear when subways, Metro North trains and

Long Island Railroad lines would reopen. "The conditions are still too dangerous. We

can't put people on bridges; we can't put people in tunnels," he told CNN affiliate

WCBS. "Once we get a full assessment, we will give people an idea of when the system

will come online."

He praised New Yorkers for taking the storm in stride. "When we have our darkest

hours, New Yorkers shine their brightest, and I think this is one of those times."

"The biggest concern, now that (Irene's) gone inland, is heavy rain, flash floods" and

wind damage, said National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read. Once inland,

hurricanes "start falling apart pretty fast," he said. "Eventually, it will exit out into

Canada."

"Nothing really that bad happened," said Sarah Sargenti, who spent Saturday night in a

friend's walkup apartment in Soho rather than risk getting stuck without elevator

service in her 23rd-floor apartment near the financial district. "A lot of wind and rain."

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, a CNN contributor who was involved in a leadership role in the

recovery efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, described Sunday's

hurricane as a six out of 10, with 10 representing Katrina.

About 30 miles north of the city, in Westchester County's Sleepy Hollow, near the

Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson, Tom Sobolik was out early Sunday at the Philipse

Manor Beach Club, from where he had moved his boat inland to a more protected

marina prior to the storm.

"But the boats here are all fine," the photographer said. "Nobody had any problem."

On Saturday night, he attended a hurricane party in his neighborhood to discuss the

brewing storm. "Everybody just went over how they prepared and how it was going to

be a waste," he said. "It turned out to be largely true. The media blew this all out of

proportion."

But the storm sent water from the East River and the Hudson River over their banks for

a brief period on Sunday morning, sending water pouring into New York City.

The water also led officials to briefly close the north tube of the Holland Tunnel, from

Lower Manhattan to New Jersey.

Still, the water did not flood the 9/11 memorial site.

Earlier, authorities had halted public transportation, closed bridges and tunnels and

buttoned up ports, essentially locking down the city of more than 8 million people as

Hurricane Irene began to lash the city with wind and rain.

And New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said some 370,000 people should

evacuate their residences in low-lying areas.

In the Long Island city of Long Beach, massive berms were breached by 8 a.m., with

water pushing northward into town. The water ripped a lifeguard building from its

foundation and streets were flooded.




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Bloomberg ordered evacuations for Long Beach Island, including Atlantic Beach, Lido

Beach and Point Lookout.

The mandatory evacuations, which affected parts of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the

Bronx and Staten Island, were a first in the city's history, he said.

CNN iReporter and Queens resident Anne Egan, who was watching events unfold from

her house three doors down from the beach wall, said she disregarded the evacuation

order because she was afraid of looters. "You can see the waves breaking on (the

beach wall)," she said. "I was a little panicked approaching high tide, which was about

7:30 a.m. But now that the peak of high tide has passed us, I'm not as nervous. The

waves are just huge out there."

More than 865,360 people were without power in New York, New Jersey and

Connecticut by early Sunday, authorities said.

In Brooklyn, Seunh Hong watched in despair as the water in his shop's basement rose

to his knees.

"Way worse than I'd expected," he said. "It is absolutely horrible. Afterwards we have

to spend lot of time and money, (and) energy for fixing them up."

Many in New York began preparing days ago for the arrival of Irene, stocking up on

essentials.

By late Saturday, most stores, restaurants and bars were closed.

The bread shelves were bare early Sunday at the Associated Supermarket on

Manhattan's Upper West Side, according to Aaron Herman, who said more than 1,000

people had stopped in Saturday to buy the "essentials."

By then, the streets were largely deserted. "For a city that never sleeps, it's clearly

taking a nap," Herman said.

New York City's massive public transportation system came to a screeching halt late

Saturday, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stopping all bus, subway and

train service.

Across the river in New Jersey, Nick Chavez was settling into to his Edenton home near

the Jersey Shore to wait out the storm.

A number of his neighbors had voluntarily evacuated in Monmouth County, though

Chavez said he felt safe enough to stay in his home.

But in Manhattan, Mark Penza was conducting business as usual at his BillyMarks West

bar where he was serving more than a dozen patrons early Sunday.

"I'm keeping an eye on the weather. ...I'm playing it by ear," said Penza, who co-owns

the bar. "But c'mon, this is Manhattan."

CNN's Tom Watkins, Chelsea J. Carter, Holly Yan, Phil Gast, Eden Pontz, Kristina

Sgueglia, Jesse Solomon, Cheryl Robinson, Rob Marciano, and Chris Boyette

contributed to this report.




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SOURCE: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/08/28/new.york.irene.scene/index.html

ACTIVITIES

1. Match the highlighted words and phrases with their corresponding definition:

a. Not having a plan of action, but deciding what to do as events take

shape

b. Hit

c. Fastened

d. Empty

e. Parts of a tree

f. Calmly and easily dealing with the storm

g. Buying large amounts of basic goods just in case they might need them

in the future

h. To whip

i. Pulled up from the ground

j. Those who plunder, pillage

k. Nearly horizontal or landward-sloping portions of a beach formed by

the deposition of sediment by storm waves

l. To allow the storm to interfere with their lives

m. Close to water or ground level

n. A high-pitched stop

o. Hard, tough

p. A collection of black clouds that signal a storm

2. Decide if the following statements are true or false:

a. New Yorkers did not panick at the storm

b. The effects of the storm may affect underground infrastructure

c. According to Gov. Mario Cuomo, full assessment of the waste is ready

to show citizens now

d. He was very proud of New Yorkers’ behaviour during the storm

e. Sarah Sargenti usually lives in Soho

f. Irene is regarded as severe as Katrina

g. Tom Sobolik’s neighbours had predicted their arrangements for the

storm would be unnecessary.

h. New York city’s authorities had isolated it as a prevention measure

before Saturday night.

i. In Long Beach all buildings remained untouched.

j. The mandatory evacuations were obeyed by every citizen without

exception.

k. In Brooklyn Seunh Hong’s shop was heavily flooded.

l. Mark Penza kept his local open on early Sunday.

the city that never sleeps takes a nap

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