As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency in advance of the approaching storm, the MTA has issued a new statement on its own preparedness for Hurricane Irene:
The MTA is actively preparing for the impact of Hurricane Irene, coordinating with the Governor’s Office, Mayor’s Office and regional OEMs consistent with our Hurricane Plan. We are making arrangements to bring in extra personnel over the weekend, preparing our facilities and infrastructure by clearing drains, securing work sites against possible high winds, checking and fueling equipment, stocking supplies, and establishing plans to move equipment and supplies away from low-lying areas as needed. Because of the severity of the wind and rain associated with a hurricane, there may be partial or full shut down of our services to ensure the safety of our customers and employees.
We are also prepared to implement evacuation plans if the Mayor and Governor decide that is necessary. We urge our customers to check mta.info frequently and to consider the impacts of this storm when making travel plans through the weekend.
Today’s statement is similar to yesterday’s, but the authority now says they could put a partial or full shut down in place to protect both customers and employees. Certain areas of the subway system in Manhattan and Queens are prone to flooding, and the authority will be closely monitoring those locations as well.
If this storm hits, your best bet is clearly to avoid the transit system. I can’t imagine travel will be at all smooth. Stay home. Be safe.
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The Rockaways and southern Brooklyn BMT lines are probably shutting down. Same goes for SIRT and any of the underground lines that are especially susceptible to flooding. LIRR is gonna be awful this weekend…
This storm is likely to hit at a very bad time, during the highest tides of the month. If Irene has not been weakened by the time it hits the metro area, the city could be in for some serious storm-surge flooding. I hope the MTA has plans to move trains out of Coney Island yard and otherlow-lying facilities.
As the seas continue to rise faster, potential flooding of the subways will increase dramatically.
Does or will the MTA have a plan to deal with the likely future flooding of our essential subway system?
[…] in case you were planning on riding out the storm in the subways, think again. The MTA might completely shut down service if the storm is bad enough. From a statement obtained by Second Ave Sagas: We are making […]
I’m stuck in the DC area still. People here are mostly ignoring the hurricane and still chattering about the earthquake.
Anyone know a better NYC elevation map than this? I was wondering how far above sea level my place was. (I’m not worried about my dwelling, since I live on the glacial moraine that makes up northern Brooklyn and southern Queens. Just curious.)
If you have Google Earth, you can hover over your house and the bottom of the screen will tell you your elevation.
Thanks, but I was wondering about the big picture.
http://project-s3.wnyc.org/new.....zones.html
I was about to post this, but that’s cooler.
Well, balderdash!