According to the Financial Times, the markets will remain closed until Monday, not because of safety fears, but due to the worrying state of the brokerage network. Verizon executives have held emergency talks with Wall Street officials, to assess the damage.
The carnage in lower Manhattan has all but destroyed the Verizon facility that serves much of the area. The damage to the company’s West Street facility has resulted in over 200,000 lines to go out of service. Tuesdays attack also removed 10 of the company’s cell sites. The power shortages and surges are proving to be a drawback in assessment of the damage.
Remarkably AT&T reported that its networking relay, located in the basement of the World Trade Building, survived Tuesdays blast. The system was even reported to be running 20% over capacity only hours after the blast, as people contacted their loved ones.
