86th Street of the Upper East or West Side flooded
Hurricane Sandy has done some real damage in NYC and the Tri-state area. Bridges and tunnels were closed early evening and it was almost deemed unsafe to drive. Well it was a good thing that bridges and tunnels were closed — the FDR Drive was nearly completely flooded, as well as most East River subways. Winds were as high as 80 mph, blowing down trees, which in turn knocked down power lines. It has been reported that at least 8 million are without power — that’s almost NYC’s total population! That included the southern half of Manhattan, starting at 42nd St, river to river. Power was reportedly shut down to protect sensitive electric equipment underground.
As for flooding, these high tides showed no mercy on NY, NJ, and CT residents, including local mass transit. NYC subways under the East River are flooded, along with many other stations (as pictured above), as well as PATH and NJ Transit trains. A new record for storm tide has been set at The Battery as a whopping 13.88 ft, breaking the 1821 record of 11.2 ft.
But is it finally over? Well, maybe not. Winds are still gusting at 60+ mph and storm tide continues to rise. Hurricane Sandy, which has been renamed a “Superstorm”, will only die down slowly and painfully, according to weather.com. For now, us New Yorkers have to wait it out. When will mass transit be full restored? It’s unknown at this time. Our transit system has to be the one thing that has dubbed NYC as “the city that never sleeps”. Because of Superstorm Sandy, New York has been taking a 48+ hour nap.
We hope and pray that everyone is safe.
