[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, 
[00:02.35]this is the TECHNOLOGY REPORT in Special English.
[00:06.84]Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity last week 
[00:12.62]in the northeastern United States. They lost power 
[00:16.89]when Superstorm Sandy hit the area in late October. 
[00:21.68]Last week, another storm brought more high winds 
[00:26.18]and dropped snow on the already troubled New York City area.
[00:32.11]Officials are blaming Sandy for more than one hundred deaths 
[00:37.75]and more than fifty billion dollars in property damage. 
[00:42.07]The storm left about eight million people without power for days. 
[00:47.84]This included nearly five million people in New York State and New Jersey.
[00:54.96]Sandy flooded parts of New York City's subway system 
[01:00.37]and affected other transportation. It delayed movement of trucks 
[01:06.60]carrying fuel to gasoline stations, 
[01:10.86]resulting in long lines at gas pumps.
[01:14.71]New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke about the problems 
[01:18.93]at a press conference last week.
[01:21.71]"Many of the gas stations, especially in Nassau, 
[01:24.34]there's gasoline in the tank in the ground 
[01:26.43]but there's no power to run the pump. And that's been the problem."
[01:30.43]Governor Cuomo said Superstorm Sandy has exposed problems 
[01:35.90]with New York's infrastructure.
[01:38.07]"These systems are the circulatory systems of the region. 
[01:42.16]And you stop the circulatory system, and you paralyze the region."
[01:47.72]He said the failure of the city's public utility system is of real concern.
[01:54.38]"The utility system we have was designed at a different time for a different place. 
[01:59.43]I believe the system is archaic and is obsolete in many ways."
[02:06.71]The storm has led to calls for power companies to bury 
[02:11.80]more electrical lines underground. But, at least 
[02:16.07]one expert says similar efforts did not help New York. 
[02:21.24]Otto Lynch is vice president of Power Line Systems in Wisconsin.
[02:27.25]"The reason many people in New York are out of power is 
[02:30.65]because it was underground and when the water came onshore, water and electricity don't mix. 
[02:35.18]And they've got problems and it takes forever to find the problems. 
[02:38.32]And when you do find the problems, it's not just a quick fix. 
[02:41.15]You have to dig. You have to work. Out of sight, 
[02:43.97]out of mind is great until there's a problem."
[02:46.04]Otto Lynch says a bigger national problem has to do 
[02:50.39]with electrical distribution poles. 
[02:52.90]He says the current poles do not have to meet industry weather requirements. 
[02:58.91]And he says the ones in New York did not.
[03:02.84]"The structures aren't designed for the ninety-mile per hour winds that occurred 
[03:06.24]and there were a lot of distribution failures."
[03:08.90]Mr. Lynch is a member of the America's Infrastructure Committee 
[03:14.19]at the American Society of Civil Engineers. 
[03:18.36]The group produced its last report on the nation's infrastructure in two thousand nine.
[03:26.43]"The two thousand nine grade for energy was a D+. 
[03:30.05]That's actually better than most of the rest of the infrastructure. 
[03:32.54]The average grade for all of America's infrastructure was a D."