Army, Navy units to pump out water in NYC

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published October 31, 2012 at 7:54 PM EDT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says President Barack Obama is sending crews and equipment from the Army and Navy to help pump out New York City's swamped subway tunnels. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports.

The Governor says an elite Army "de-watering" team that had been deployed during Hurricane Katrina is being sent from Illinois. That team should be pumping out large amounts of seawater by Thursday morning. The U.S. Navy is also sending pumps used on ships.

Cuomo says Wednesday the job is immense. He says the PATH commuter line tunnels to New Jersey are filled to the standing platforms for five miles.

The state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority says every day the subway system is closed costs it $18 million in revenue.

Buses are now being used to help carry 5.5 million daily subway riders.

New York News

Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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