New York, NY (WTVR)–New York City emergency service units are responding to calls around Manhattan to damage caused by the Superstorm Sandy.
John Miller also told Scott Pelley two explosions were heard from the Con Edison plant sub station on 14th street in Manhattan which resulted in power outages for 20 blocks in either direction.
YouTube video released by Trillian Media under the Creative Commons licensing captures the explosion.
CBS News reports that police, fire and rescue were busy rescuing people trapped in cars caught in water, as well as responding to calls for people trapped in elevators. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power and more than 10 deaths have been reported, according to CBS news.
MTA officials told WCBS it could take up to 4 days just to pump the water out of the subway tunnels. Salt water could corrode the switches and signals in the system, which would force the MTA to replace hundreds of pieces of equipment before any service could be restored.
Power was also lost at the New York University hospital, though the backup system had been reportedly tested, and people were being relocated.
Con Ed Vice President of Electric Operation John Miksad told CBS that this was one the largest storm-related outage in Con Ed’s history. A total 670,000 customers so far lost power Monday in New York City, the northern suburbs and coastal Long Island, reports CBS news.
