Tuesday, October 30, 2012
NYC MTA Subway Flooding Disaster Update : Worst Disaster in Subway History
Joseph J. Lhota, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, issued a statement, describing the flooding from Hurricane Sandy as the worst "disaster" in the New York City subway system's history, The New York Times reported.
Mr. Lhota's statement included details of some of the worst damage to the mass transit system :
- As of last night, seven subway tunnels under the East River flooded. Metro-North Railroad lost power from 59th Street to Croton-Harmon on the Hudson Line and to New Haven on the New Haven Line.
- The Long Island Rail Road evacuated its West Side Yards and suffered flooding in one East River tunnel.
- The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel is flooded from end to end and the Queens Midtown Tunnel also took on water and was closed. Six bus garages were disabled by high water.
NYC East River Subway Tunnels Flooded
Updated ! NYC MTA Subway Flooding Disaster Update : Worst Disaster in Subway History
We can confirm that there has been water infiltration into the New York City Subway tunnels under the East River. We cannot confirm a depth.
— MTA (@MTAInsider) October 30, 2012
Hoboken PATH Subway Station Flooded
Flood waters rush in to the Hoboken PATH station through an elevator shaft. #Sandy twitter.com/PANYNJ/status/…
— Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) October 30, 2012
Emergency Situation At Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant in Toms River, NJ
From The New York Times :
Dangerous Water Levels at Nuclear Plant
Rising water threatened the cooling system at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, in Toms River, N.J., on Monday night. The plant declared an alert at 8:45 p.m., which is the second-lowest level of the four-tier emergency scale established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The water level was more than six feet above normal. At seven feet, the plant would lose the ability to cool its spent fuel pool in the normal fashion, according to Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The plant would probably have to switch to using fire hoses to pump in extra water to make up for evaporation, Mr. Sheehan said, because it could no longer pull water out of Barnegat Bay and circulate it through a heat exchanger, to cool the water in the pool.
If ordinary cooling ceased, the pool would take 25 hours to reach the boiling point, he said, giving the operators ample time to take corrective steps. The reactor itself has been shut since Oct. 22 for refueling, so it is relatively cool.
Alerts are declared a handful of times every year among the 104 power reactors around the country.
So far, no reactors in Sandy’s path have been forced by the hurricane to shut down, although one in Waterford, Conn., Millstone 3, has lowered its power output to 75 percent. The operator said this was done to assist the New England grid, which would be destabilized if the reactor shut down suddenly from full power, and also to reduce the chance that it would automatically shut down; at 75 percent, Millstone 3 could withstand the loss of a pump without having to close.
Several other reactors in the region are now closed for refueling, which is ordinarily carried out in the spring or fall, when electricity demand is low.
Separately, FOX News reported about safety concerns with the nuclear power plant at Indian Point.
Monday, October 29, 2012
NYU Langone Hospital Evacuated
Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.
From 1010 WINS : NYU Langone Hospital being evacuated after backup generator dies.
Patients are being taken down manually down flights of stairs and are expected to be transferred to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan.
Because NYU Langone Hospital has no electricity or phone service, they cannot notify the relatives or emergency contact persons of the NYU Langone Hospital's patients until the patients are received by a new hospital, WNBC has reported.
Bellevue Hospital Taking On Water
Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.
FDNY Manhattan scanner: Multiple people in the water @ ConEd Plant. Bellevue Hospital taking on water. Lower Man. flooded no power. #Sandy
— Lord Burghley (@Lord_Burghley) October 30, 2012
Murray Hill Flooded Near Bellevue Hospital Hurricane Sandy
Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL
Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.
Bellevue Hospital Without Power ; Backup Generators Failing Due to Floods ; No Level I Trauma Center Below Midtown Since St. Vincent's Hospital Was Converted Into Luxury Condos By Rudin Family.
Bellevue hospital can't get the generators running, 2 ft water in the basement -- FDNY scanner
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) October 30, 2012
The area near Bellevue Hospital in Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan is flooded. According to this Twitter posting, 34th Street and First Avenue is under water.
Unbelievable. Be safe friends. RT @shamir_kNot just lower Manhattan - this is 34th and 1st i104.photobucket.com/albums/m166/ow… (Murray Hill...)
— Emily Kuhn (@EmKuhn) October 30, 2012
East Village Explosion Hurricane Sandy
A transformer possibly exploded in the East Village of Manhattan during the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.
Huge explosion just rocked the East Village, everything went dark and I mean dark.#Sandy I'm now legit scared. twitter.com/buckyturco/sta…
— Bucky Turco(@buckyturco) October 30, 2012
911 ECTP Tech System Overwhelmed During Hurricane Sandy
WNBC reports that the 911 tech system is overwhelmed, that people are being discouraged from calling 911 unless it is truly a real emergency. This hurricane is doing a lot of damage. Would not all the damage taking place during a massive natural disaster be considered a real emergency (911 Call System Overloaded As City Urges People to Stay Off the Roads * DNAinfo New York)
Trees are falling, the façade of one building has collapsed, one fatality has been reported, and blackouts and massive floods have been widely reported. What isn't an emergency ?
Con Edison Cuts Power to 6,500 Lower Manhattan Customers
Apparent explosion of Con Edison substation or electrical equipment due to destruction from Hurricane Sandy.
According to WCBS News, Con Edison has cut electricity to 6,500 customers in Lower Manhattan.
.@conedison preemptively shutting off two underground networks in Manhattan--Bowling Green and Fulton Street networks in Lower Manhattan.
— Scott M. Stringer (@scottmstringer) October 29, 2012
Chelsea Building Collapse Hurricane Sandy
Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL
Related : Related : Hurricane Sandy - Political Accountability For Hospital Evacuations
Across the street from 92 8th Avenue where building facade collapse just happened. (ok to use, plz credit me) twitter.com/MegRobertson/s…
— Meg Robertson (@MegRobertson) October 29, 2012
Fire and rescue personnel respond to a partial building collapse in Chelsea on Eighth Avenue, between 14th and 15th Streets. On local news reports, the building was shown to be missing the front façade of the building.
MAN 2-ALARM 92 8TH AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING BUILDING COLLAPSE,
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 29, 2012
The building collapse took place less than five blocks from the former St. Vincent's Hospital. If people were hurt, they no longer have a Level I Trauma Center or full-service hospital at St. Vincent's since New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn approved the luxury condo conversion plan by the Rudin Family.
I see 8 fire trucks and many police cars and vans #sandy 14/8 twitter.com/gilgul/status/…
— Gilad Lotan (@gilgul) October 29, 2012
Crane Expert : Evacuate People And Let Crane Fall
Crane Collapse 911 Emergency Call System
Will the Hurricane Sandy crane collapse at the One57 luxury condo trigger a test of the 911 emergency call technology system ?
Damaged, dangling crane atop (for now) 1 57th Street NYC. twitter.com/jonathanwald/s…
— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) October 29, 2012
The 911 call system has failed before.
Crane Collapse One57th Lux Condo At 57th Street NYC Hurricane Sandy
Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL
Related : Related : Hurricane Sandy - Political Accountability For Hospital Evacuations
Wind gusts from Hurricane Sandy bent and folded over a construction crane attached to the tall luxury condominium building going up on West 57th Street. The construction crane is folded over and is now dangling in the sky.
Damaged, dangling crane atop (for now) 1 57th Street NYC. twitter.com/jonathanwald/s…
— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) October 29, 2012
A large presence of FDNY, ambulances, and police have closed the streets around the high-rise. Hurricane Sandy has not yet made landfall, so weather conditions will continue to worsen. Wind speeds and gusts will make it impossible for rescue workers to stabilise or secure the dangling construction crane until after Hurricane Sandy has past and weather conditions have subsided.
Officials with NYC Office of Emergency Management issued a text alert, advising people who live in nearby buildings to relocate to lower floors.
