Hurricane Sandy (2012)
Seawater fills the South Ferry subway station at the tip of Manhattan
. Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin, 2012.
The MTA faced losses of over $5 billion during Hurricane Sandy, which shut down on October 27, 2012. The subway remained shut for a number of days due to the flooding of tunnels, including seven critical subway tunnels beneath the East River, and damage to switches and signals. It took up to four days to pump water out of some flooded subway tunnels.
The nearby Long Island Railroad and the Metro-North Railroad also suffered devastating losses, as lengthy power outages and debris — including a 40-foot boat tossed onto the tracks in Ossining — resulted in weeks-long shutdowns. “Last year, riders could take comfort in knowing that the shutdown was voluntary. This storm prompted a willful suspension of service, but then ensured that the system would remain down well after it passed,” the New York Times wrote in 2012.