New York May Get Hurricane Barrier
Rhonda Moniz
December 31, 2012
Following super storm Sandy New York City may be looking at a surge-protection barrier. Sandy's relentless, wind-driven tides inundated seven subway tunnels under the East River, immersed electrical substations, and shut down the financial district and power south of 35th Street. It flooded parts of all five boroughs in the city of 8 million and killed more than 100 people in the United States, 42 in New York City. A 2009 engineering study by Mahwah, N.J. based HydroQual estimated that a barrier system involving massive floodgates at key points such as the East River and the Verrazano Narrows would reduce the flooded area of the New York metropolitan region by 25 percent…