I would like to offer a bit of technical advice to cell phone users all over.

For a very low investment, you can ensure that you have a way to charge your cell phone when the power grid is out. Buy two D cell battery holders at Radio Shack. This is the kind that each hold 4 D cell batteries.

While you are at Radio Shack or your local car parts store, buy a 12V receptacle (the kind your cell phone car charger could plug into).

Orient the two D cell holders and use a plastic tie to hold them back to back, with the red wires on opposite ends.

Twist the red wire and black wire on one end together and put electrical tape or a small wire nut on to hold the wires together.

Connect the red and black wire on the other end to the 12V receptacle's wires. If the wires from the receptacle are not color coded, you will need to determine polarity as follows: plug in your car charger to the receptacle. Do not hook your phone to it. Connect the red and black wires from the battery pack to the receptacle's wires temporarily, while you have the 8 D Cells in the pack. If the light on your car charger cord lights up, you have it correct. If the light on the car charger cord does not light, switch the wires.

Once it is working, make the connections to the receptacle permanent. You now have a cell phone charger. If you can't make one of these, find someone that can help you, or there are commercial battery packs for cell phone charging as well.

Look up your local amateur radio group to learn about getting an amateur radio license if you want communications that will work when the rest of the communications methods don't during a disaster like this. An amateur radio operator can also help you build one of these battery packs if you need the added help.

As I understand it, the federal government releases funds, the governor administers the money as needed.

This is what we get for over 30 years of demonizing government and shared communal responsibility, privatization of functions better done by the public sector, deregulation, and lack of investment in public infrastructure. For example, the electric companies and phone have no incentive to invest in disaster preparation, prevention, peak load coverage, clean-up or repair. Privatized, they have no reason to spend money there; deregulated they have nobody to make them do it. Their inherent only interest is quarterly gains in stock valuation. That works for some widgets but not for all things. Government is not a business, and some things are better done by government. Similarly for most other infrastructure and things which are inherently broad based shared commununal including some services. Not just electric power, cellular grid, internet, roads, bridges, rail, but also health insurance (nationwide public single payer). Similarly, in a reality based world, climate change denialists would not have held veto power over our system for the past 20 years. As Philip K Dick said, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, still exists." Welcome to the real world where mother nature does not care if you believe in her or not; she still huffs and puff and blows your Ayn Rand libertarianism and free market fundementalsm fantasy down.

Plain old telephone service was on copper lines. FCC has let the phone compainies get away with possibly, literally, murder--if you cannot call for help. Old fashioned copper wire phone service does not need electricity if you have a landline that also has a tethered headset-- not a wireless portable. Now, the phone companies have been allowed to pull the street phones off the street--which was a safety net if you lost phone service. FIOS--heavily promoted, comes only with an 8 hour battery backup--information hidden in the fine print when Verizon solicits you to give up your copper-wired landline. Verizon should be required to print a "black box warining", (as is done with warnings about dangerous drug side effects) if you sign up for FIOS-- that in a disaster you will not have more than 8 hours of battery backup on your phone. As we have leaned in this storm--how are you supposed to charge your cell phone if you lose power for days, and your car has been drowned.

Cable companies and Verizon FIOS promote their triple discounts--phone + television + cable. Where is the "discount" if you cannot call for help when you need it?

Why hasn't the FCC educated and protected the public so families can afford to keep both a copper wire landline and a cell phone?

Land lines only work if delivered over cooper wire. The telephone company has battery back-up that powers the system. But if anyone replaces their copper service with fibre and that includes cable delivery, an on site electric service is required. Once lost so goes the telephone service.

I would like to request that WNYC's NJ reporters do a serious investigation of how JCPL and PSEG responded to Hurricane Sandy. As a resident of Millburn, NJ, I receive my electricity from JCPL and my gas from PSEG. We are one of the only communities in Essex County to get electricity from JCPL and this is the second year in a row when the differences between the two suppliers have been thrown into sharp relief. I have received email updates from PSEG daily but NOTHING from JCPL. Oh wait, I did get a voice mail from the Millburn OEM with some information from JCPL, but that's it.

I was struck by Governor Cuomo's statement that he would be looking closely at how the different utilities operated in the wake of Hurricane Sandy when they came up for review. I believe this should be done in NJ as well and would like to see Governor Christie make the same statement. The differences are sharp and whatever fine JCPL paid last year after they botched response to Hurricane Irene and the ice storm was clearly not enough.

Yes, I understand this was a big storm and frankly, we're lucky as the trees that fell on our house did not apparently damage it and our kids are in college and graduate school far away and can take care of themselves.
We can get through this thanks to friends that have power and heat and, most importantly, wifi. What really bothers me is the LACK OF COMMUNICATION from JCPL. I think the residents of Millburn Township, which was completely blacked out and continues to be almost fully without power, would be less stressed if we had some information.

Can you pass this on to the WNYC reporters and to Brian Lehrer? I couldn't figure out how to post it on his page as well.

WNYC is a lifeline - thank goodness for hand crank radios!

From The Takeaway's "partner" the New York Times, on New Yorkers acting like New Yorkers:

"Some people said they had been turned away from hotel lobbies, other banks and cafes near 40th Street when asked if they could charge their phones. It was as if, said Gabriella Sonam, a massage therapist who had biked up from the East Village, they did not even know a national emergency was going on just across the street.

"'I’m not traumatized by the storm; I’m traumatized by the indifference,' she said near tears."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/nyregion/above-40th-street-the-powerless-go-to-recharge.html?smid=pl-share

Naturally, John Hockenberry's reaction to cellular service being interrupted; blame deregulation. And call for more government. Hurricane Sandy, as a reason to increase marginal tax rates, as it were.

In fact AT&T and T-Mobile, which had been denied their application for a merger by the the Obama Justice Department and the FCC, have now voluntarily linked their compatible cellular systems to better serve customers in the wake of Sandy.

I hope every affected person in Sandy's path now realizes the importance of the Federal Government in their lives. FEMA and other federal agencies that help in natural disasters may be on the "chopping block" should Mr. Romney win the presidency.

I certainly think we should be helping those affected by the storm, but find myself annoyed by those in evacuation areas who chose to stay and are now complaining that FEMA is not gotten to them yet. They made their decision to shelter in place and chose not to make provisions for themselves for the aftermath. It has only been two days since the storm passed. Give FEMA a chance.

Great editorial decision to do an "explainer" comparing wireline and cell telephone. But, alas, you really whiffed it. The piece was muddy...like a lousy cell connection...and listeners were left knowing only that cell and wireline are "different." We already knew that!

I am essentially a caveman in a spaceship, ( I use technology in limited doses) still, when my phone is out, I feel helpless.

How about converting those useless public phone booths into cell phone stations where people can pay to charge their phones and could it be used as cell phone booster areas

Cellular signal boosters can increase the range of mobile phones so if there's a working tower just out of range you can connect to it. Get an inverter so you can power it through the "cigarette lighter" power outlet in any car if home power isn't available.

This is probably a good sign that we need to integrate solar and wind power into our infrastructure. Not only for emergency use but to rely less and less on fossil fuel power plants (which may be the cause of this particular emergency).

"US-built panels and windmills on every roof!"

During Hurricane Wilma we were without power and cell phone for days. Many people were without water.The only way I can describe driving around the area is eerie. Trees down, so much quiet. No TV, no cooking since most of us have electric stoves. Grills were going everywhere. The good thing about it was that friends and neighbors came together to assist each other in a difficult time. Although the devastation from Sandy is much worse, the memories of being without communications and what we consider the basic needs has been brought to the forefront.

Cell phone reception in my neighborhood is not all that great. However, I noticed a problem yesterday. I got a call that was dropped when I answered it. The caller called again. The reception was terrible. There was an echo on the line. I think this was a problem of a weakened cellular network