Home > Blogs > Zohar "Zack" Zamir > Zohar "Zack" Zamir's (zohar0116) Blog

I hope everyone is safe from Hurricane Sandy!

By Zohar "Zack" Zamir

Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Town Life 0791149

October 30, 2012 08:06 AM

I hope everyone is safe from Hurricane Sandy! This is one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast. Millions are without power, houses are destroyed, and there are over a billion dollars worth of damages. I wish all those affected the best of luck in restoring power and rebuilding whatever may have been destroyed.

-Zohar Zamir

Assessing the Damage From Hurricane Sandy

Power Failures

More than six million customers lost power Monday as Hurricane Sandy felled trees, downed power lines and flooded substations. The storm led to power failures in at least 17 states, including more than a million customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and about 660,000 in New York City. Roughly a quarter million customers lost power in Manhattan after a fiery explosion at a substation on East 14th Street darkened most of the island south of 34th Street. Con Edison officials called the power failures “the largest storm related outage in our history.” In an update Tuesday morning, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that about 2 million families in the region were still without power, nearly half of them on Long Island.

10/30 3 a.m.

10/29
4 a.m.

10/30
12 a.m.

MASS.

MD.

OHIO

W.VA.

CONN.

R.I.

N.J.

DEL.

VA.

PA.

N.Y.

N.H.

VT.

ME.

100,000

10,000

Spread of Power Failures

Across the Northeast

Customers without power

Pa.

Conn.

New Jersey

New York

1:30 a.m.

7:30 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

7:30 a.m.

Monday

2 million

4 million

6 million

13 states

Based on updates from 35 major power companies

Customers Without Power

Ambulances lined up to take patients to other hospitals, after the backup power system failed at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Twitter

Areas of lowest elevation

The skyline of Lower Manhattan in darkness. A fiery explosion at a substation on 14th Street left about 250,000 customers without power.

Keith Bedford/Reuters

Areas of lowest elevation

Avenue of the Americas was dark after the power failure that affected most of Manhattan south of 34th Street.

Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Areas of lowest elevation

Flooding

Many sections of the Manhattan waterfront, like the West Side to Hudson Street and some parts of the Lower East Side, were submerged as the storm surge swept through. Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, like Dumbo and Red Hook, in Queens, like Long Island City, and in low-lying coastal areas in Staten Island were also flooded. In an update Tuesday morning, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that FEMA had sent its National Unwatering Team to drain out downtown.

Twitter

Areas of lowest elevation

Twitter

Areas of lowest elevation

Flood waters reached the corner of Canal and Hudson Streets. Most of Manhattan south of 34th Street lost power after a substation exploded.

Preston Rescigno/Getty Images

Areas of lowest elevation

Sea water flooded the Ground Zero construction site.

John Minchillo/Associated Press

Areas of lowest elevation

A car in Brooklyn took refuge on the sidewalk outside of McDonald’s under the B.Q.E. in Carroll Gardens.

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Areas of lowest elevation

Streets were flooded under the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo.

Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press

Areas of lowest elevation

Red Hook, Brooklyn, was flooded twice on Monday. Members of the New York National Guard patrolled the area.

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Areas of lowest elevation

Wind

Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City with maximum sustained winds of about 80 miles per hour according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said tropical-storm-force winds could stretch all the way north to Canada and all the way west to the Great Lakes, strong enough to continue to knock out power as the storm moves across the country. Time-lapse maps of the strength of Hurricane Sandy's wind. »

Fires

More than 80 homes were destroyed by a wind-fueled fire in Breezy Point on the Rockaways, where severe flooding complicated efforts by firefighters to reach the blaze. In an update Tuesday morning, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that there had been at least 23 other major fires in the city.

In Breezy Point, on the Rockaways, a fire destroyed about 80 homes.

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Areas of lowest elevation

Subways and Railroads

By Tuesday afternoon, subway and commuter rail service remained suspended, and limited bus service was set to resume at 5 p.m. Joseph J. Lhota, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that damage to the subway system was being assessed, and that service would be restored in pieces. Tunnels under the East River were all flooded, and Mr. Lhota said that flooding was “literally up to the ceiling” at the South Street subway station in Lower Manhattan. Long Island Railroad remained closed due to flooding on the tracks. Two Metro-North lines north of 59th Street continued to be without power, and Mr. Lhota estimated that there were at least 100 trees downed on the tracks. Staten Island ferry and railway service were also still suspended. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie said there was “major damage on each and every one of New Jersey’s rail lines.” New Jersey Transit and PATH service remained suspended.

12 ft.

Areas that could be

flooded if the water

reaches a height

above normal of:

The lowest subway entrance

is at the 6- or 7-foot surge

level. Studies have suggested

that if the surge reaches 8 to 10

feet, a number of East River

tunnels would be fully flooded.

Subway Lines

Vulnerable To

Flooding

Subway

tunnels that

could be

flooded in a

100-year flood,

roughly equivalent

to a surge of 8 to

10 feet.

BROOKLYN

Hudson

River

East River

Battery

Park

City

Battery Park

MANHATTAN

Vulnerable

subway entrances

and vents

Source: Elevation data from Sean C. Ahearn and Gordon Green, Center for Advanced Research of Spatial Information, Hunter College

Workers pumping water out from the tracks at South Ferry subway station on Tuesday.

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Areas of lowest elevation

Staten Island Railway's Clifton shop was flooded with debris.

Reuters

Areas of lowest elevation

The tracks at Metro North Railroad's Croton-Harmon station were inundated.

Reuters

Areas of lowest elevation

A boat resting on the train tracks at Metro-North's Ossining station.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels, via Associated Press

Areas of lowest elevation

Other Transportation

New York City bridges reopened Tuesday afternoon, while the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel remained closed after severe flooding. Kennedy International Airport was set to reopen Wednesday, but not LaGuardia Airport, where damage from significant flooding was reported.

Twitter

Areas of lowest elevation

Water rushed into the Carey Tunnel (previously the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel) in the Financial District. Seven subway tunnels under the East River were also flooded.