As Hurricane Sandy hits the East Coast, public transportation has been shut down in major cities. New York shut down its subway, bus and commuter rail city on Sunday, with last subway routes leaving at 7 p.m. The Huffington Post reported that MTA chief Jay Lhota said that it New York City's transportation should be back up and running by Wednesday.
New York City has the largest transit system in the nation with the subway having more than a 5 million people utilizing it, reported The Associated Press. MTA's website said, "The decision to shut down the MTA network was made to protect customers, employees and equipment from the wrath of Hurricane Sandy as the strong storm continues its march up the east coast. This is the only the second time the full network has been shut down preemptively in connection with a weather event."
In Addition to MTA transit, PATH and Northeast Amtrak service and New Jersey Transit has been suspended through Monday reported The Huffington Post. Buses in New York ran until 9 p.m. in New York City.
Philadelphia's mass transit system has also been suspended. Mandatory evacuations were also put in place on Sunday in New York's Zone A areas.
These areas are under mandatory evacuation:
The Zone A evacuation area includes:
Coney Island, Red Hook, Manhattan Beach, the Rockaways, Broad Channel and Hamilton Beach in Queens, most of the coastline of Staten Island, City Island part of Throgg's Neck, Parts of the South Bronx, Battery Park City, parts of the Lower East Side and East Village.
People have prepared to stay in doors with packed foods and emergency supplies. "We packed, of course, clothes and emergency supplies, water. I have flashlights. I have toys, blankets for the kids, pillows, you know, accessories to keep them occupied," said Amy Torres to CBS who lives in Lower Manhattan.
Those who are in shelters may be holed up in them for up to two or three days.
