NEW YORK—The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is filled with 43 million gallons of water due to the massive storm surge associated with Hurricane Sandy. The tunnel is to open “soon,” but MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota was unable to give a specific timetable on Thursday.
“I bet you have never seen a tunnel look like that,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters during a tour of the tunnel officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel. Prior to the storm it served as a daily artery for 50,000 vehicles traveling between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Two press vans were driven into the tunnel about a quarter of a mile before stopping, having reached the water. The thick smell of gasoline soaked the air, and the ground was slick with oil and sludge.
Gov. Cuomo, along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Chuck Schumer huddled with Lhota in the tunnel for a quick briefing.
Back at street level, Lhota recalled the fateful Monday evening when Hurricane Sandy hit New York. He said he personally witnessed the catastrophe take place in pitch-black darkness. “I felt that the flood was capable of providing hydro power with such speed-roaring power,” he said.
The city is expecting help soon from the Army Corps of Engineers who will bring super pumpers to efficiently remove the water, Lhota said.
When asked where the city will put the millions of gallons of contaminated water from the tunnel, Sen. Schumer said, “Back in the NY Bay, where it belongs.”
Once the water is removed, the tunnel will be cleaned and washed out and the structural integrity checked. “The fact that there is water on the inside, I am not worried about that, but the systems working, the lighting, and various other security-related matters that we have there, I am worried about,” Lhota said.
Recovery Funding and Plans
Sen. Schumer asked for 100 percent reimbursement from the disaster relief agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which typically pays for 75 percent of recovery costs, while the state and local governments pay 25 percent.
Sen. Schumer announced that, as of this morning, FEMA will reimburse New York City and New York state 100 percent for the cost incurred for emergency transportation. FEMA will also cover the costs to restore power to the region between Oct. 30 through Nov. 9.
