[URBAN NOTE] "New York Subway System Faces Weeks to Recover From Storm"

[rfmcdonald]

Via Joe. My. God. I learned about the terrible damage inflicted on New York City's subway system by the recent storm. As summarized at length by Bloomberg News, the damage--especially but not only to the vast infrastructure necessary to knit together a megalopolis--is daunting. My sympathies to all, and my most fervent hopes for a rapid recovery.

New York’s subway system may take weeks of work and tens of billions of dollars to be restored to full service as officials assess the toll from floods, hurricane-force winds and electrical damage that crippled the most populous U.S. city’s transportation hub.

“I can say unequivocally that the MTA last night faced a disaster as devastating as it has ever faced in its history,” Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman Joe Lhota said at a news conference today.

Sandy, the Atlantic superstorm, exceeded officials’ worst- case scenario, Lhota said. It wreaked havoc on the entire transportation system in New York and New Jersey, including subways, buses, roads and commuter railroads.

Damage on the MTA, the largest U.S. transit system that carries an average of 8.7 million riders on weekdays, was so widespread that officials today said they couldn’t tell when they’ll be able to assess it. Seven subway tunnels under the East River flooded, as did six bus depots. The South Ferry station was filled to the ceiling with water, the agency said.

Klaus Jacob, a research scientist at Columbia University who co-wrote a 2011 study forecasting damages of $50 billion to $55 billion to transportation infrastructure from flooding in a severe hurricane, said that scenario appears to be coming true.