Several flood gates in Hoboken designed to block traffic from using flooded streets failed to operate during an Oct. 30 severe rainstorm, officials said.
Hoboken’s Office of Emergency Management reported some of the automated floodgates did not operate as intended due to insufficient battery power, according to a report from Mayor Ravi Bhalla. The city’s flood system handled 25 million gallons of water during the storm.
The gates, similar to the barriers seen at parking lot pay stations, are intended to prevent vehicles from getting stuck on flooded streets. Flashing warning lights also alert drivers that the street ahead is flooded.
Upgrades to the gates were scheduled to begin Monday by the gate manufacturer, said Marilyn Baer, a city spokesperson.
The inoperable gates were manually lowered by Emergency Management workers, but some drivers raised the gates or moved around barricades, driving on flooded streets, causing their vehicles to stall.
What did work as planned were the city’s two pumping stations, which pumped 22 million gallons of water.
Three city resiliency parks, designed to absorb storm water contained another 3 million gallons, official said.
Last Thursday’s storm which coincided with the Hudson River high tide and saturated ground, still caused some low-lying streets to flood, officials said.
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