SANDY’S
DEVASTATION
“The agencies that worked with
us sent their engineers, not their
board members, not their CEOs,”
Jacob said. “When you send this
information to them the result is
always the same, this big silence
and shock.”
When New York’s subway system was designed more than a
century ago, the city “did not anticipate water coming over the
Hudson River, coming over the
banks, being five feet deep on the
West Side Highway, and filling
subway grates,” Cuomo said the
day after the storm.
With climate change and storm
surge fears in mind, the MTA had
been proceeding with small steps
since a 2007 rainstorm that shut
down parts of the system: it had
raised entrances at 30 stations
and had begun to raise up ventilation grates. In the authority’s
most recent budget, $34 million
was allotted for these programs.
Jacob refused to point a finger
at any particular elected official.
He described both Bloomberg and
Cuomo as cognizant of climate
change and the threat it poses to
transit and other infrastructure.
“You should really give Bloomberg and the whole administration and to some degree the state
HUFFINGTON
12.02.12
credit. To keep the science in the
spotlight is something,” Jacob
said. “Where they have failed on
this issue is the spending.”
The city referred questions
about the subways to the MTA.
“We have a team of planners in
our headquarters who specialize
in sustainability issues and have
long been active in the effort to
develop strategies to counteract
the climate threat,” said MTA
spokesman Adam Lisberg. “The
MTA knew it needed to do so long
before Hurricane Sandy struck.
But a comprehensive protection
plan for a 108-year-old system of
varied construction can’t be developed instantly, much less put
into place in under a year.”
“To prepare for weather events
such as the one that devastated
the region we had several emergency planning exercises in the
months prior to the storm,” said
Steve Coleman, a spokesman for
the Port Authority. “We also have
been designing our new projects
and facility replacements with climate change in mind such as the
World Trade Center site, which,
once completed, should be resilient against surges. We will assess
and revisit all plans in the coming
weeks and months.”
Like the MTA, the private utility provider Con Ed was cognizant of the dangers of both cli-