Perhaps those who require electricity in order to sustain their lives need to look at generators or other contingency plans. Not to sound crass, but natural disasters DO happen, and when they happen on this type of scale, it sometimes takes several days just to complete the sheer amount of work it takes to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. While I sympathize, it is not the government's responsibility to provide uninterrupted power to every citizen under every conceivable set of circumstances.

I don't want to sound cold-hearted, but what ever happened to people having a brain and managing their own lives? If something like Irene is coming, people should have the common sense to figure out what they need for the emergency and take care of it ahead of time. There was plenty of notice. Their lack of common sense planning (or laziness) puts the lives of other responders at risk. But I guess no one takes responsibility for themselves any more.

I feel for these people but these days a hurricane doesn't creep up and surprise you out of nowhere. You know for days in advance and have plenty of time to decide stay or go, and to prepare either way.

If they aren't smart enough to have a back up plan knowing full well that power losses are inevitable, then they deserve what they get and they don't deserve any sympathy. (I'm not really sure that this article qualifies as "news.")

Any reputible medical equipment provider will ALREADY have an emergency backup system in the home, have an already established procedure for dealing in emergency situations. I surprized the communty emergency planning people didn't have a plan setup up to have people relocated prior to the storm and have the local home care companies pitch in and have equipment available. Florida dealers have these plans established in most areas

It is a problem. Sure, you can keep a few small tanks for emegency use, but in an emergency like Irene it will be hard to get replacements. There elecctrial devices that provide O2 but they have a maximum flow of about 5 liters, I Think. For higher flow you need the tank. Etanks, they are called, don`t last very long on continuous use at high flow.

There are a lot of Sleep Apnea machines in use.

Sleep Apnea is also called Odines Curse.

If you go to sleep you die. No machine and you can stop breathing.

Scary but true

It is really amazing to read peoples comments to these stories.  During the first part of the hurricane, you read all these people commenting about overhype.  This storm was a nothing etc.  Now 5 days later when there is still no power for many people and they are having to try to figure out ways to deal with their own personal situations, people condemn them because they didn't have the foresight to know that it was going to be this bad for them.  The comments seem to indicate that we should all be omniscient so that we can always take care of anything that comes along.  You all knowing people amaze me.

I have some pretty solid experience in this area.  Most home medical suppliers do have plans in place to deal with typical storms.  But remember, that the Northeast doesn't typically have hurricanes. 

The people that require 5 or more liters / minute would be better served by moving to a medical facility to ride out this type of an event.  E tanks or larger would only provide a few hours of oxygen at this volume and must be changed regularly.  People that are stressed will tend to need more oxygen than they normally would and become even more stressed when their reserves are low.  A generator connected to an oxygen concentrator is not a perfect solution.  Unless the generator is powered by natural gas, somebody must manage the operation of the generator, fueling it occasionally, and restarting when needed.  If power is out for an extended period of time, most likely access to fuel will become an issue.  If the generator is powered by natural gas, it is much easier to operate, however, you are depending on continuous access to natural gas, not necessarily true if the infrastructure has been compromised. 

Lash:  sleep apnea does not kill people if they fall asleep.  There can be complications but it is not a "sleep and die" scenario.  I deal with people all day with those machines (regarding their energy bills) and you will not find one doctor who will say "If you cut off their power they will die".  It doesn't even count.  And if they are in dire shape due to that disorder they'd be better off in a structured care environment.  The storm was clearly conveyed to everyone.  If they have an issue like that they had a good four or five days to seek temporary treatment, etc.

@Adela

Apparently you either do not have sllep apnea or are totally ignorant about it. You absolutely can die from it if you have a serious case. And I have had doctors write to the electrical company on my behalf stating that death could occur without power to my cpap machine. I know because I have severe sleep obstruction and nearly died several times from aspyxiation from it. The problem is that my local electric company does not recognize sleep apnea as a "serious medical condition. Fortunately, I did prepare and I have a standby electrical generator just in case. Most people cannot afford backup devices unfortunately or have nowhere to go. Please be more cognizant of your comments if you don't know what you are talking about.

Lost of power it is a big problem for o2 patients.Let see what will happen when competitive bidding will come in effect

Let see what will happen, when competitive bidding will come in effect

You are correct...the proper size for extended use is a H cylinder

You are correct...the proper size for extended use is an H cylinder

I suffer from sleep apnea...you try going four (4) days without sleep and then "whine" about not having hot water. Dont whine to me.

After 4 days of no sleep I'm ready to rip the eyes out of your head.

Aside from 4 E tanks my wife and I have 2 large tanks and 2 portable tanks each that we can fill at home as long as we have power.  As for myself I can reduce to 1 litre to make the O2 last, as long as I don't do anything strenuous.  Also, E tanks are usually fitted with a conservator which is a demand regulator that only gives a shot when one inhales (called "one shots").  Using a "one shot" on reduced flow can make an E tank last just about all day.  At a 2 litre constant flow they usually last a little over 4 hours.  The one shot just about doubles it on 2 litres and triples it on 1 litre.  If one does'nt have an oxy/pulsometer, to keep track of your blood O2 one should increase  the O2 flow if a headache occurs or if your fingernails start looking a little bluish.....then its time for more flow.  By the way...oxymeters start at around $40.00 online from most medical supply websites.

PSHEW! It has been an eye-opening experience to read these comments! I never knew there were so many uncaring people in the world. Guess I've always been an optimist, and thought the best of everyone. Silly me.

One comment stated:

I don't want to sound cold-hearted, but what ever happened to people having a brain and managing their own lives?

Gosh, for someone who doesn't want to sound cold-hearted, you certainly haven't achieved your goal--you sound very cold-hearted to me! You are correct in that people should be able to manage their own health issues. Things don't always happen the way we would like, though, do they?

Not to sound crass, but natural disasters DO happen. . . While I sympathize, it is not the government's responsibility to provide uninterrupted power to every citizen under every conceivable set of circumstances.

Alas, you do sound crass! We all know (even those of us who are old, feeble, and have to use electrical equipment to keep us alive) that natural disasters happen. By that statement alone, you are treating us like idiots. Please don't. And by the way, I agree with you--it isn't the government's responsibility. The government doesn't own the electric companies, however. They are privately owned, and they provide services to their customers in exchange for payment! I don't know why that seemed so important to me, except that we patients are NOT relying on the government.

This is obviously a very sensitive subject. I understand the person who has been awake four days and then listens to someone whining about not having hot water. It is true for me that I'd like to be able to find a (polite?) way to tell them how insensitive they are being. There are many people in this world who live without running water, much less hot water. Get a grip on what's really important in life.

As a responsible person who gets medical equipment from a responsible company, I do always try to be prepared. I have one backup oxygen tank at all times, which runs without electricity, but it only runs for 12 hours based on my oxygen need of 4+ liters/minute. The medical supply company does everything within their "power" to get additional backup tanks to their customers. Then again, depending on how long the emergency lasts, they may not have enough backup equipment. If possible, they can pick up the expended backup tanks, have them refilled, and redeliver them. Or, as many of you have said, go to a hospital where there is power.

A few years back, we had an appalling ice storm. No power, temperature in the teens, no way to cook, and no way to run the necessary medical equipment. The power outage lasted 6 days. After the 2nd day, we heard from the police that there was one hotel in our tiny town that had power, and they were taking people who needed power urgently at a reasonable (unbelievable) price of $30 per night. We couldn't, of course, get our car out, but the police helped us shuffle the medical equipment, a couple of suitcases (canned food we could eat without a stove, as well as clothes), our dog, and ourselves, to that hotel. Bless them, what a godsend this was for us and for many other people in our town of 2,700. Yes, that was a time we did rely on the government (police) to help us, and we were very grateful.

I guess what I'd really like to say is . . . there is nothing as insightful as walking in someone else's shoes. And while we can imagine walking in someone else's shoes, remember, that's all it is--imagining. We can never know the nuances, the true feelings, the variables that enter. Err on the side of kindness--you won't go wrong.