State Of Emergency Declared In Hoboken, And Public School Update: See Messages

HOBOKEN, NJ — As streets in low-lying areas of Hoboken flooded Friday morning, the city declared a state of emergency and the public schools superintendent said schools would not close early, but after-school activities are canceled.

(See photo of this morning's flooding and links to the forecast and warnings: Hoboken Flood Gates Go Down As Waters Rise)

Look for messages from both below.

State Of Emergency, Some Closures

From the city of Hoboken:

Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla, in conjunction with the Hoboken Office of Emergency Management (OEM), has declared a State of Emergency (SOE) for the City of Hoboken in response to heavy rain and flooding impacting most of Hoboken. The SOE is in effect immediately and until further notice.

“My utmost priority, and that of the Office of Emergency Management is the life, health, and safety of our residents,” said Mayor Bhalla. “Due to the flooding in Hoboken and throughout the tri state area, I urge residents to stay off roads and only travel if it is essential, especially during the evening rush hour when we anticipate more rain. I also ask everyone to please not move barricades, and to not walk or drive through floodwaters“

“This declaration will help our efforts to keep people and property safe through this storm, and beyond,” said Hoboken OEM Coordinator, Sgt. William Montanez. “We ask for continued cooperation in those efforts and urge all residents and visitors to avoid all unnecessary travel, do not drive around or move barricades, and do not walk or drive through flood waters.”

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Hudson County, including Hoboken. The heavy rainfall, some of the heaviest coming at this morning’s high tide, created severe flooding throughout the City. Flood pumping stations are operational, and resiliency parks are storing water to the greatest extent possible, but any prolonged severe weather can outpace the capacity of our infrastructure.

The Office of Emergency Management urges all residents to stay home and avoid unnecessary travel. Residents are reminded to not move barricades to drive through flood waters as stranded vehicles can hinder emergency responses. The Hoboken Police Department may issue citations to anyone who moves or drives around barricades.

The City has been in communication with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Johnson and the Hoboken Public School District will dismiss all students at its regular dismissal time. All afterschool activities have been cancelled.

The City's Multi-Service Center will close starting at 12:30 p.m. due to area flooding.

School Message

Dear Families,

Thank you for your patience and cooperation with arrival this morning. As you know, it was not easy navigating throughout the city with both heavy rains and flooding in certain areas. Please know that on days such as these, I remain in contact with the City's Public Safety Director, Ken Ferrante.

I have received some questions as to whether we are going to do an early dismissal today. We will not. We will be dismissing at the regular dismissal time, which is 2:30 pm for PK students and 3:00 pm for K-12 students. The reason for this is because high tide was right around 9 am today. That occurred along with very heavy rains. However the tide is receding and the lowest point of low tide will take place between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. After discussing this with Director Ferrante, the safest time to dismiss is during our regular dismissal time.

The rains are set to pick back up and the tide will begin to rise again. All after school activities will be canceled today, including PK Wrap Services and Passport to Learning. For those with children that participate in Passport to Learning at the K-8 level, we kindly ask that children are picked up no later than 4 pm.

Thank you for you patience and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Christine Johnson, Superintendent of Schools