Bellevue Hospital Center Ready To Weather Next Storm
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A year after superstorm Sandy, officials at Bellevue Hospital Center say they're ready for a flood.
After suffering damage in the Oct. 29, 2012, storm, Bellevue was back to full service about 100 days later. WCBS 880's Alex Silverman was among those who were given a tour Thursday of the storm-related improvements made to the 275-year-old hospital.
Most of Bellevue's major damage was in its 180,000-square-foot basement, which filled up with water in less than an hour the night Sandy walloped the Tri-State Area.
Bellevue Hospital Center Ready To Weather Next Storm
"This took about nine months" to repair, said Steven Alexander, the hospital's executive director.
Alexander showed off massive transformers that have been moved from the basement to the first floor. The transformers serve "a good portion of the hospital -- the emergency department, the MRI," he said.
"We had to get civil engineers in order to do the structural work," Alexander said.
Photos: Sandy One Year Later
Bellevue also installed flood barriers outside to block its truck ramps, where water poured into the building during Sandy. Alexander said the walls can be erected in two hours.
Alexander said some things, such as air purifiers, had to stay in the basement.
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