Too much rain by Claudia Sonea

Would say the residents of New York who faced a terrible storm that crippled subway systems, highway tunnels and airport runways. There was too much rain and too fast, pumping stations were overwhelmed. The failure brought forward an older debate regarding the network of pumps, sewers and drains that protects the city's subway. Governor Eliot Spitzer told Metropolitan Transit Authority engineers to bring in a report in 30 days with solutions to flooding. MTA Executive Director Elliot G. Sander blamed the pumping system that can handle a maximum of 1.5 inches of rainfall per hour, while this storm was of 3 inch. The most important issue is to find solutions quick, because the current situation only prepares them for the experts' predictions of a major hurricane causing the Hudson and East rivers to overflow. MTA pumps remove 13 million gallons of water from the subway system only from groundwater coming from sources like streams. Changes were made after the shutdown of 1999 and after Hurricane Frances paralyzed tunnels in 2004. Although the city is spending $300 million per year to improve the piping system, according to DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd, the so-called robust storm-water drainage system has not been installed yet. However, residents of Brooklyn were more affected by weather phenomena; a tornado damaged 40 houses, people were injured and a woman died on Staten Island. At the end of the day, besides the fact that they were all wet, the heavy rain left behind a high humidity. No more fooling around with nature. Green power!

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather;_ylt=AniMjQLfkOVFAomV_b9ByAys0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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