The “Superstorm” that wallopped the Northeast US this week serves as another reminder of how easily overwhelmed New York City’s 911 phone system is. So much so that Mayor Mike Bloomberg again and again urged citizens not to use it to report anything but the most immediate life-threatening emergencies. “The city said it was receiving 10,000 calls per half hour—10 times the normal level—as the storm pounded the city late Monday,” reports The Wall Street Journal.