This came up during Hurricane Sandy. NYC is a point of entry for a large number of undersea Cables. Some of these are pretty important, and there was discussion

This came up during Hurricane Sandy. NYC is a point of entry for a large number of undersea Cables. Some of these are pretty important, and there was discussion about what would happen if the surge or debris were to take out a couple of them. “Given the duration and strength of this storm, you have to worry about the cables getting disrupted,” said an executive with a data center company who did not want to be named. He said problems with the cables is “ the kind of thing companies will keep close to the vest. If either AC-1 or AC-2 were to go out there would be major, major issues.” http://gigaom.com/cloud/superstorm-sandy-wreaks-havoc-on-internet-infrastructure/ http://gigaom.com/cloud/superstorm-sandy-wreaks-havoc-on-int... edit: citation added.