Wednesday morning's downpours once again brought the subway system to its knees. NY1 Transit reporter Bobby Cuza explains in the following report what went wrong, and why a fix might cost plenty.

One hour of rain is all it took to affect service on every single subway line in the system, some of them knocked out completely. Things got so bad, a transit spokesman — in an unprecedented move — asked people to stay home.

"The time and intensity of this storm took us by surprise because it was not predicted by the National Weather Service,” said MTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elliot “Lee” Sander. “The storm then hit right around high tide, putting further pressure on our infrastructure."

But even if the MTA had seen the storm coming, its biggest problem is an inadequate drainage system that simply cannot handle the volume of rain that fell Wednesday morning.

Even when the subway system's pumps are working at full throttle, they're just pushing the water into the city's sewer system. If that system is backed up, there's simply no place for the water to go.

Governor Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg both admit changes need to be made.

"What that certainly suggests to me is that we have a design issue that we need to think about," said Governor Eliot Spitzer.

To that end, Spitzer has asked Sander and MTA engineers to come back with possible solutions within 30 days. But the governor still defended the head of the MTA.

"The subway, in essence, became the residual reservoir for water that was flowing in off the streets," said Spitzer. "We couldn't handle it. And as I said yesterday, I have asked Lee Sander, who is a stupendous leader of the MTA, who has been struggling with this since he got here seven months ago, to figure out in 30 days what we need to do with a drainage system that is inadequate."

Back in September 2004, a downpour similar to Wednesday morning's also brought the system to a near-standstill. That led to a scathing report from the MTA's own inspector general, who blamed the agency for — among other things — poor maintenance of valves and drains.

Transit officials say they have implemented all the report's recommendations, including buying new portable pumps and adding about 100 workers to clear tracks of drain-clogging debris. But that was clearly insufficient, and the problem may be a one that will require major overhaul of the city's infrastructure.

"As part of the 30-day review, that's what we are going to be looking at,” said Sander. “Do we need to physically make changes, and also in concert potentially with the city, so we deal with this."

The review will also look at communication lapses. A surge in traffic Wednesday made the MTA website difficult if not impossible to access. The MTA says it's in the process of fixing that very problem and upgrades should be in place by next week.

With more rain in the forecast, some New Yorkers are wondering what to expect for Friday’s commute. But Bloomberg urged the city to have faith in the subway system.

"While nobody is satisfied with what happened yesterday and the MTA’s performance, I think I speak for everybody, whether it's the straphangers or the people who work there or the manager or the governor or the mayor, the bottom line is the subway system is pretty reliable and most days when it rains you should still do it,” said Bloomberg.

-Bobby Cuza

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