PHOTOS: Hoboken Gets Its Second '50-Year Storm' In Three Years

HOBOKEN, NJ — Parts of low-lying 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.

On Saturday, 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.

[Related video: Watch NJ Transit Bus Head Through Hoboken Flood During Tropical Storm Fay]

One resident complained — in comments at the end of the Patch story on Friday — that police did not come to help cars that were stuck near the city's flooded southern border (a similar situation occurred near ShopRite, where the above photos were taken).

Mayor Ravi Bhalla explained on Saturday 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 also hit with what officials called a 50-year storm. Hurricane Sandy was referred to as a 100-year storm. The convergence of so many examples of extreme weather at once may seem unusual, but scientists and the government have an explanation (click here).

In his 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. "

Bhalla's complete letter is below:

<blockquote>

Yesterday, much of the tri-state area saw the heaviest flooding event since the Cinco de Mayo storm in 2017. In Hoboken and across the entire region, streets and roads were flooded, especially in low-lying areas. Hoboken received more than three inches of rain in six hours, with the peak 15-minute interval of the storm having a rate of 1.96 inches of rain per hour.

Tropical Storm Fay was the equivalent of a 50-year storm; in other words, a storm that has a 2 percent chance of happening in any year. Today, the Department of Environmental Services and North Hudson Sewerage Authority (NHSA) cleaned affected streets and sidewalks of debris and sewerage that may have been left after the rainwater subsided.

I thank both our staff and NHSA for taking the time to do so this morning, and to the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for placing up barricades in advance of the storm. During Tropical Storm Fay, our two flood pumps covering the Northwest and Southwest parts of the City were in operation, and pumped out at least 12 million gallons of water from our streets during and after the storm.

Our resiliency parks – including the Southwest Park and Seventh and Jackson, stored over 185,000 gallons of water, that was released once the storm was over.

While the pumps were fully functional, what exacerbated flooding during certain times was the fact that 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.

Nonetheless, I completely understand some of the frustration from those who may have been caught on streets with elevated water or had flooding in their homes as a result of the tropical storm.

To be completely straightforward – given Hoboken’s low-lying typography and location right next to the Hudson River, even with unlimited funding, we are unlikely to solve the most severe of storms (50-year flooding event or worse), like we experienced yesterday.

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.

But what we can do, and what we have been doing, thanks in large part to our strong partnership with the leadership and commissioners at NHSA, is to continue with investing in smart, sensible flood infrastructure that will help alleviate the majority of flooding events.

As we’ve communicated about previously, under construction right now is another resiliency park in Northwest Hoboken, that will have the ability to store up to 2 million gallons of rainwater when complete, and further mitigate flooding in Northwest Hoboken. And, our $230 million Rebuild by Design project is one of the most innovative projects in the entire state to eventually protect from storm surge from the Hudson River through above ground amenities, including a public park.

We’re continuing to build rain gardens, cisterns, and integrate flood infrastructure into a number of our City projects as a matter of policy. In the past few years, both of our parks in Southwest Hoboken and at 7th and Jackson have come online that include green infrastructure and underground detention systems to withhold hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater.

As the statistics and facts show, Hoboken’s two new flood pumps, along with our resiliency parks have successfully prevented flooding during many storms, and regular rainfall events that would have previously caused flooding on our streets. While we are compiling recent statistics with NHSA, during the first 10 months since the H-5 pump came online (the H-1 pump went online in 2011), the flood pumps together helped prevent flooding during 88 percent of rain events, including two heavy rainstorms that had peak intensities of 1.5 inches of rain per hour.

Again, we won’t be able to prevent the most severe of storms like Tropical Storm Fay, but we are making important progress. I hope this update has been informative for residents, and I look forward to keeping everyone updated on our flood infrastructure in the weeks and months to come.

</blockquote>

The letter included these links:

• Learn how Hoboken and NHSA prepare for, respond to, and recover from intense rainfall storms: https://cityofhoboken.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=8a8c57a8b4d1403299fce4d8c5d0af54
• Learn about Hoboken’s efforts to mitigate rainfall flooding: https://cityofhoboken.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=65c107f7e6984c4ca988c84ae406d27f

Streets that flood

The city sent out an email Thursday night warning of flooding areas, and asked 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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