Sandy aftermath: Electric linemen deserve our praise

 This is commentary from political blogger and cartoonist Rob Tornoe.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie hasn’t been bashful about bestowing unbridled praise on to President Obama for his handing of Hurricane Sandy. But if he hasn’t already, the Governor should heap the same amount of praise in the direction of the many electric linemen working tirelessly to restore power to hard-hit areas of New Jersey.

Thousands of lineman from as far as Utah and California are spanned out across the Garden State, working feveriously in terrible conditions to get the power back up for the nearly 1 million residents still without electricity, down from at peak of at least 2.4 million after Sandy first hit.

Their job is tough. PSE&G CEO Ralph LaRossa referred to it as “hand-to-hand combat” as crews work diligently on specific towns. Since Tuesday, most lineman have been working 16 hour days removing thousands of downed trees, replacing hundreds of damaged poles and running miles of wire in brutal conditions.

When you lose power for more than a day, it starts to feel like you’ve never had it at all, especially as the days get shorter and the temperature outside starts to cool. But at least you can rest assured with these guys on the case, your candle-lit nights will end sooner, rather than later.

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Rob Tornoe is a political cartoonist and a WHYY contributor. See more of his work at RobTornoe.com, and follow him on twitter @RobTornoe.