Internet Is Flooded With Hoboken Flooding Photos And Video

HOBOKEN, NJ — The internet was flooded with Hoboken flood photos and videos on Wednesday night after the region was hit with a severe thunderstorm following a heatwave. It was the second time in two weeks that the city endured flash floods and residents got stuck in their cars.

[READ AN UPDATE: Hoboken Mayor Addresses Wednesday's Flooding; Second 50-Year Storm In Two Weeks.]

Parts of Hoboken are known to flood during severe storms, especially in conjunction with high tide, and even as flood pumps are being added. But some wonder why the problem hasn't been solved.

"Someone sent this to me saying it was just taken in Hoboken," Tweeted one New Jerseyan on Wednesday night. "It rained a lot, but that level of flooding is insane. We're not doing enough to mitigate flooding in NJ."

One Hoboken resident posted video of residents under the 14th Street Viaduct after an alarm went off in her building and she evacuated.

Do you have flood photos and video to share? Email caren.lissner@patch.com.

At 7:28 p.m. the city's Office of Emergency Management sent an alert saying, "The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) asks residents to please avoid driving in Hoboken on city streets due to heavy rain and flash-flooding in certain areas, including the entrances and exits to Hoboken on the southern end of the City. OEM placed barricades near flood prone intersections this afternoon. Please do not drive around barricades or through flooded intersections."

(Severe storms are again predicted for late Thursday afternoon.)

Two weeks ago, the Northeast was hit with an unusual tropical storm that formed in the Mid-Atlantic and made a direct hit to the Jersey shore, much as Hurricane Sandy did in 2012. Several low-lying areas flooded and cars got stuck. (Read more: Hoboken Gets Its Second '50-Year Storm' In Two Years)

After that storm, one resident complained — in comments at the end of the Patch story — that police did not come to help direct traffic near the city's flooded southern border (a similar situation occurred near ShopRite, where the above photos were taken).

Video: Watch NJ Transit Bus Head Through Hoboken Flood During Tropical Storm Fay

Mayor Ravi Bhalla said later in the weekend that the storm was "the equivalent of a 50-year storm; in other words, a storm that has a 2 percent chance of happening in any year."

In May of 2017, the area was hit with another of what officials also called a "50-year storm." And Hurricane Sandy was referred to as a 100-year storm.

Video: Tropical Storm Fay in Hoboken, July 10, 2020

In that email, Bhalla noted, "Most of Hoboken, especially the western part of the city, was developed on land that was previously tidal wetlands from the Hudson River. NHSA estimates that to prevent the most severe of flooding events, like the storm we saw yesterday, we would need to replace our entire sewer system, which would cost an estimated $3 billion. Needless to say, this is an impractical solution. "

He said, "The heaviest rain intensity occurred during and right after high tide, which prevented some of the water from flowing to the flood pumps. The flooding we saw yesterday could have been much more damaging, with the water not receding as quickly had the flood infrastructure with our flood pumps and resiliency parks not been in place. "

Streets that flood

The often sends out an email warning of flooding areas, and asking residents not to drive around barricades.

These intersections include:

• 1st and Marshall
• 1st and Harrison
• 2nd and Harrison
• 3rd and Harrison
• 4th and Harrison
• 4th and Monroe
• 3rd and Jackson
• 4th and Jackson
• 9th and Monroe
• 9th and Madison
• 10th and Madison
• 1st and Clinton
• 3rd and Clinton
• Henderson and Newark
• Grove and Newark

To read other local news in Hoboken, click here.

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