4. The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Completely Flooded During Hurricane Sandy

Sandy West St underpass flooding. Photo courtesy of Jay Fine for the MTA via Flickr Creative Commons

In the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy, the city of New York decided to err on the side of caution and close down the tunnel. It was a good thing they did. When the storm reached the city, it completely battered the tunnel, filling it to the brim with 86 million gallons of dark, murky water.

It took two weeks for the water to be pumped out. The city reworked the ventilation chambers to circulate the water up and out of the tunnel and, despite the incredible amount of water, were able to bring almost 10,000 gallons out every minute. The city reopened the tunnel two weeks later without a hitch.