New York began to mop up and pump out the water after massive flooding from Hurricane Sandy, which engulfed much of the city and its outer boroughs when it hit on Monday.
According to Consolidated Edison Co. spokesman Chris Olert, more than 656,000 homes and businesses experienced power outages stemmed from Hurricane Sandy, which also killed at least 18 people in New York City. ConEd said 288,000 customers in Manhattan, 118,000 in Staten Island, 45,000 in the Bronx and 205,000 in Brooklyn and Queens lost power.
The storm caused flooding to most of New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, chairman Joseph Lhota said, calling the aftermath of the storm the worst disaster in the history of the MTA. Seven East River subway tunnels, two Long Island Rail Road tubes linking Manhattan with Queens and two automotive tunnels were flooded, along with one subway bridge, three train yards and six bus depots.
Many people posted photos of the mass flooding of the NYC transit system, which appeared to be almost half under water. A video released by the MTA posted by AnimalNewYork.com showed MTA workers inundated in water in the entrances to the subway.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said subway service may not be restored for up to five days.
“We’re on the road to recovery,” Bloomberg said. “We’ll try to take this and use it as a lesson.”
The New York City bus system operating on a Saturday schedule will be free of charge to provide transportation for the entire city. Mayor Bloomberg said yellow taxis will be allowed to pick up multiple passengers until subway service is restored.
Escalators to the South Ferry Whitehall St. subway in the financial district of Manhattan are shown flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in this still image taken from video released by New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), in New York, October 30, 2012. One of the biggest questions now is who will pay for the extensive damage to municipal infrastructure, subway tunnels, train tracks, electrical transformers, coastal boardwalks and piers, that Sandy left behind along the East Coast.ReutersAn MH-65T Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City looks over LaGuardia Airport while it conducts an overall flight assessment of New York Boroughs impacted by Hurricane Sandy Tuesday. New York's LaGuardia Airport, the third of the airports that serve the nation's busiest airspace, was flooded and remained closed.ReutersA car drives through water due to flooding from Hurricane Sandy in New York October 31, 2012. With New York City's subway system paralyzed by Sandy's crippling blow, millions of commuters are rethinking how they will get to work this week, and they are taking it one step at a time. ReutersWorkers pump water out of a flooded Citibank branch in New York's financial district October 31, 2012. The U.S. Northeast began crawling back to normal on Wednesday after monster storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed at least 45 people in nine states with a massive storm surge and rain that caused epic flooding.ReutersFlooding from Hurricane Sandy can be seen in this aerial U.S. Coast Guard handout photo showing Long Island, New York, October 30, 2012. Millions of people across the U.S. Northeast stricken by massive storm Sandy will attempt to resume normal lives on Wednesday as companies, markets and airports reopen, despite grim projections of power and mass transit outages lasting several more days. Picture taken October 30, 2012. ReutersFlooding from Hurricane Sandy can be seen in this aerial U.S. Coast Guard handout photo showing Long Island, New York, October 30, 2012. Millions of people across the U.S. Northeast stricken by massive storm Sandy will attempt to resume normal lives on Wednesday as companies, markets and airports reopen, despite grim projections of power and mass transit outages lasting several more days. Picture taken October 30, 2012. Reuters
