HOBOKEN – Six months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged Hoboken, Mother Nature decided to give the city a little reminder of her might Wednesday morning, when flooding caused by a torrential overnight downpour blocked many of the city’s entrances and exits and shut down multiple streets on the west end of town.
Information is still coming in on exactly which parts of town were blocked off to cars on Wednesday morning, but Jackson Street from Third Street to Fifth Street was closed, while a road blocks were placed at the corner of Jefferson Street and Sixth Street and Grand Street north of Twelfth Street. The area around Willow Avenue and Seventh Street also incurred serious flooding.
Several cars were stuck in several feet of water on the Marin Boulevard and Grove Street underpasses which lead into the city from Jersey City, and both thruways were blocked. The Jersey Avenue underpass remained open but suffered from heavy congestion.
The city’s politicians weighed in on the flooding on Twitter early this morning. Mayor Dawn Zimmer tweeted around 10 am, “Advocating as hard as possible for more flood pumps. Grant application was submitted. [Hoboken] severely flooded. We need help!” The grant Zimmer referred to, according to a later Tweet, is a plan to install further flood pumps around the city that was recently submitted to the state for approval.
Meanwhile, Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti, a fierce opponent of Zimmer, tweeted, “Hoboken needs to work with the North Hudson Sewerage Authority for more pumping stations. Bond if needed. 4 years of inaction. #unacceptable.” – Dean DeChiaro
Flooding up and down western Hoboken after severe downpour; street closures throughout
