Here’s How Army Engineers Are ‘Unwatering’ NYC’s Tunnels
It’s an “un-watering” process the Corps has had to work on three times since Hurricane Katrina, to the point where the Corps personnel at work on the tunnel underpass come from a special Task Force Unwatering the Corps has based in Illinois. However, the Corps notes, the Task Force “does not have large pumping or construction equipment or operating
manpower on staff or on contract standby; all such assets must be procured under emergency contracting provisions and personnel deployments.”
Thousands of Army and Air National Guard troops are already involved in the relief effort, commanded by the governors of their respective states. But the U.S. military is bringing help as well. On Thursday afternoon, five C-5 and 12 C-17 cargo planes are expected to arrive at Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburg, New York, the result of a request from FEMA for military airlift. (See video, above.)
The planes will carry unusual passengers: not military personnel, but a crew of about 12 people and 69 trucks — flatbed diggers, cherry-pickers, mobile command centers and more — from the Southern California Edison electric utility. The utility will assist in a “power restoration mission,” said George Little, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, who did not specify where the mission will focus.