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NYC infrastructure impacts


hooralph

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Forgive the separate thread, but wanted to understand what some of the specific risks/impacts are. Given the stakes, seems worth a focused discussion.

Obviously in Manhattan most of the power grid is underground. Where are we vulnerable to outages? what's the risk of a widespready blackout?

Is there any part of the subway infrastructure more vulnerable to surge flooding?

This is the flood map.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hurricane_map_english.pdf

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i feel like the city will be ok besides some subway flooding, there's no way power goes out, it never does

They have never dealt with a surge this high. So I consider the infrastructure untested. Untested things usually fail in unexpected ways. Hopefully it is redundant enough that they can quickly replace what fails.

And I'm glad I'm not near it.

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They have never dealt with a surge this high. So I consider the infrastructure untested. Untested things usually fail in unexpected ways. Hopefully it is redundant enough that they can quickly replace what fails.

And I'm glad I'm not near it.

Really? You think it will be that bad? How much flooding do you see in Manhattan?

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Really? You think it will be that bad? How much flooding do you see in Manhattan?

Manhattan is fine. The real problem is in the outer boroughs which have low-lying neighborhoods and above-ground power transfer stations which could be knocked out by flooding.

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Really? You think it will be that bad? How much flooding do you see in Manhattan?

Small cars can handle a gas shortage better than SUVs. Big cities need a lot of infrastructure to survive. If that infrastructure goes down mass chaos erupts fast, faster than it will in the suburbs where people can fend for themselves for a few days.

Just better hope everything holds up. Were you there for the 2003 blackout? Pretty nuts what happens god forbid NYC looses power for a day. If everything holds, NYC is fine. But if any of the items I listed in my earlier post fail it's major trouble.

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I'll be thrilled if it's back online Monday, but fear it won't be. I am on the 1/2/3 and while nothing in midtown or uptown Manhattan was hit, the 3 terminus in Harlem was flooded, the 1 tunnel was breeched in South Ferry, and I think the 2/3 was flooded in Brooklyn.

This week is a write-off. I am planning to walk to work Friday and maybe Thursday. Hoping they re-open schools Thursday.

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Four days is wishful thinking IMO. The system will probably come back up in sections. They will probably get less affected lines up in a few days but those that were fully immersed in seawater are most likely another story.

Probably 3 days, but definitely not going to be 14 hours. Mainly because of the Safety check for proper flow of electricity after the water is drained out.

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First they have to pump ALL of the salt water OUT of the subway system. I estimate 2-3 days for this. Then they have to make inspections across every single inch of track. If that takes 2-3 days, then my name is Bubba the Love Sponge. Then they have to make repairs to damaged equipment. Unclear as to how long that would take because it is not known the level of damage. Is it light or extensive? Estimate 2 days for that if it's light. If it's extensive damage, you're talking over a week. Then they have to get the rolling stock back on the tracks, conduct tests to see if the repairs were done correctly and get everything up and running. That will take 1 day.

While, yes, they can roll out lines at different times, one must remember that all of the rolling stock is in one area (West Side Yard) and that in order to get those lines that work, the cars most get to them first which means going through lines that may not work.

Not only is the mayor going to face criticism over telling people that Monday would be an ordinary work day and not taking this storm seriously enough, but he is also going to get major heat from people who want to get from point A to point B on the subways which carry millions of people every day. The subway system is the lifeblood of the city.

Total repair time: 1-2 weeks at the MINIMUM.

With that being said, they should delay the NY Marathon by a week. There's too much damage all over the city to worry about a marathon.

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Andrew Cuomo@NYGovCuomo

Assessing situation in downtown Manhattan, Gov tells reporters min of 3 days, up to 2 wks to get water pumped out of PATH station #Sandy

I mean come on... if it's going to take 2 WEEKS to get the water out of the PATH station, how long would it take to get it out of the entire NYC subway system????

I think Bloomberg and the MTA have to be more concerned about the getting everything up and running in time for the Holiday Season than "3-4" days.

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