My mom coped for 15 *years* without electricity when she was growing up.

My dad did have electricity growing up, which the family used to power the light bulb (singular) and radio (singular). Dad also grew up with running water (though the tap was in the front yard, not the house).

After one hurricane my family didn't get power restored for a month. It wasn't that big a deal - break out the camping gear and you're fine if you can handle the thought of living without iThings. Some forethought, such as buying food *before* you get hungry, is necessary.

My main concern is the that many in the NE may be learning the wrong lessons. This wasn't a "superstorm" - it was a weak storm that came in at high tide with a medium storm surge. A strong storm, or one with a high storm storm surge [1] (high or low tide) would be much worse. And two weeks to restore power is not slothful.

[1] The seabed off the NE coast may not allow a hurricane to generate storm surges that are possible in the Gulf Coast. 30' of surge may not be a realistic planning target.