Hurricane Sandy surge could flood New York runways and subways

If water gets into the subways and tunnels, the impact could be even longer lasting – electrical conduits could be submerged, which could corrode them. In that case, the damage could be very expensive to repair.

The storm surge was expected to extend into southern New England in places such as Rhode Island.

“A lot of places that have never been flooded before are likely to be flooded,” said Elizabeth Roberts, the lieutenant governor of Rhode Island in an interview on the Weather Channel.

The storm surge is influenced by several factors: 

• Low pressure can exacerbate a storm surge. “The lower the pressure, the bigger the surge,” says Howard Botts, an expert on storm surges and a vice president at CoreLogic, an Irvine, Calif.-based real estate information company. In the case of Sandy, the pressures are among the lowest recorded for a storm north of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras.
• As the water accumulates around the storm, the forward speed of the hurricane acts like a plow to push water in front. A large wind field can exacerbate the impact, as is the case with Sandy. Making the surge even worse for New York, the city is on the right hand side of the storm, which is usually the windiest part, pushing the most water.
• The geography can also play a role – and that appears to be working against New York, too. The water is being funneled down Long Island Sound, where there is little opportunity for it to escape. It will just pile up, increasing the flooding. The same is true along the south side of Long Island – the water is getting shoved into Raritan Bay, close to Newark airport.

Once the surge finally drains back into the sea, experts anticipate the cost will be in the billions.

“Hurricane Irene was a $19 billion storm with most of the damage done in the interior,” says Mr. Botts. Sandy “is likely to top that number.”

Many homeowners who live on the water are expecting the worst. Last year, when hurricane Irene hit, the Clarkes had water in the ground floor of their home. It took weeks to clean up.

Now, Mr. Clarke says he expects a six- to nine-foot surge with the possibility of six-foot waves. Even though he and his wife spent three days trying to board up the house, he is resigned to seeing a lot of damage.

“With 10 feet of water, we are talking about the entire family room covered with water,” he says. “With six-foot waves, we are talking about water reaching into the master bedroom on the second floor,” he says. “I don’t know if the house will be there when we finally get back in.”

Previous

1 | 2