Floodwater Is Being Pumped From Ground Zero Construction Site

The Ground Zero memorial and underground museum are being pumped free of floodwater on Saturday, five days after NEw York City was hit by Superstorm Sandy.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that crews were working on the memorial, a tribute to the September 11 terrorist attacks, after Sandy produced a record storm surge of almost 14 feet in lower Manhattan, reports CNBC. Cuomo added:

“The World Trade Center site was frightening. At the cresting of the tide on Monday night, the Hudson River was basically pouring into the World Trade Center site. … The World Trade Center site had 28 feet of water in the bottom.”

Four-inch-wide hoses were used to siphon water from underground and into the street, sucking out roughly 200 million gallons of floodwater from Ground Zero.

Coumo stated that pumping at ground level was completed and the underground memorial was expected to be completed by the end of the day Saturday. The Ground Zero memorial features artificial waterfalls cascading into reflecting pools at the footprints of each twin tower. The towers were destroyed during the terrorist attacks.

When it is completed, the museum will include an underground space that allows people to view the waterfalls from below. Yahoo! News notes that two of the four planned skyscrapers at the Ground Zero site are also well into construction. Ralph Wade, 59, a tourist from Salt Lake City, Utah, was hoping to visit the site on Saturday, but it was closed because of the flood.

Wade stated, “I’ve never seen it, but I’ll be back again.” One worker was telling visitors that officials are hoping to reopen the memorial on Monday. Micki Williams, 70, who was visiting New York from South Carolina, stated:

“This was the one thing I wanted to see. But our disappointment is nothing compared to what people are going through.”

Along with pumping floodwater from Ground Zero, crews are also pumping it from New York City’s flooded subway system.