Kerrie Joyce 
Per a Nixle alert from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla, the street conditions in Hoboken on Thursday, October 30th, were worsened by malfunctioning floodgates. The City stated that two flood pump stations, H1 and H5 were online and fully operational during the storm. According to the Nixle alert, some automated floodgates did not deploy due to insufficient battery. Read on for more details about how the city managed Thursday’s flash flooding and protocols for future severe weather.
Photo Credit: @livadams17 on Instagram
Thursday’s Flooding
Per the Nixle statement from Mayor Bhalla, Thursday’s storm, “produced significantly more rainfall than forecasted, reaching a peak 15-minute intensity of 2.96 inches per hour, which unfortunately coincided with high tide. Our city can often see flooding in low-lying areas if we get any rain over 0.8 inches per hour. ” Flooding was particularly severe in southwest Hoboken, where there were many road closures.
Two flood pump stations, H1 and H5, were fully operational during the event according to the City’s statement, which states that the H1 pump ran for approximately 6 hours and pumped around 12 million gallons of water, and the H2 pump ran for five hours in which it pumped approximately 10 million gallons of water. The H1 pump is located at Observer Highway in the especially flood-prone southwest Hoboken area, and the H5 pump is located in northwest Hoboken at the H5 sewer shed. Hoboken has also installed three resiliency parks designed to mitigate flooding, but each park filled to capacity.
Read More: Flooding in Hoboken: Q+A With Environmental Services Director Jen Gonzalez
Floodgate Malfunctions
The Nixle alert included reports from Hoboken’s Office of Emergency Management, which noted that some of the City’s automated floodgates did not deploy due to insufficient battery. In response to the malfunctions, Mayor Bhalla said:
“The manufacturer has already been alerted and will be on site on Monday to inspect the affected gates and install upgraded batteries and other enhancements, which should hopefully resolve the issue moving forward. In all cases where automatic deployment did not occur, the gates were lowered manually by City crews to block flooded intersections and roadways.”
The Office of Emergency Management and the City of Hoboken shared the following statement with The Hoboken Girl:
“The City of Hoboken and the Office of Emergency Management would like to remind the public of the importance of not touching or moving any gates or barricades during any potential flood event. These are placed in specific locations for public safety and to help prevent property damage.
During last week’s storm, automated floodgates that did not deploy were manually lowered by the Hoboken Police Department. The manufacturer was in Hoboken today to inspect the system and install upgraded batteries, which are solar powered. Upgrades, to strengthen the solar power, will be conducted over the next two weeks.”
Road Closures
The statement also noted “several instances” in which individuals raised floodgates and removed road barricades from flooded intersections. On the day of the storm, the Office of Emergency Management sent out multiple Nixle alerts regarding road closures and other safety precautions, including securing Halloween decorations as a result of high winds.
Do not drive around barricades and through floodwaters.
Stalled vehicles can block emergency vehicles and impact response times.
If you can, please do not travel.— Hoboken OEM (@HobokenOEM) October 30, 2025
“During storm operations,” Mayor Bhalla said, “emergency dispatch received seven calls for disabled vehicles that were obstructing roadways and needed to be towed in southwest Hoboken alone.”
Emergency services including the Hoboken Police Department, Fire Department, and EMS received more than 100 calls reporting flooding, the need for medical assistance, motor vehicle accident reports, and more. “Due to our mitigation efforts, roadways were cleared and reopened within approximately four hours of the storm’s peak intensity, and within less than two hours in many locations,” the Mayor said, thanking emergency services and City crews for their efforts
About the Floodgates
Hoboken first introduced automated floodgates in 2022, funded by a federal grant. The gates were placed at especially flood-prone intersections, according to the City’s page describing the systems. Hoboken’s low-lying streets, especially the southwest region, are notoriously prone to flooding. In previous coverage of the floodgates from July of, City Spokeswoman Marilyn Baer shared,“The barricades will be installed at five low-lying and flood-prone intersections in western Hoboken,” she told The Hoboken Girl in July of 2022. “Water levels will be monitored via sensors in the catch basins at flood-prone intersections through a cloud-based system called Contrail by OneRain. This system will allow us to see water levels in real-time and will close the gates when water is on the roadway.”
See More: Floodwalls Are Coming to Hoboken: What to Know
The automated floodgates are located at the following intersections:
- Newark Street and Garden Street
- Harrison Street and Second Street
- Marshall Street and First Street
- Jackson Street and Third Street
- Fourth Street and Monroe Street
- Willow Street and Eighth Street
Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok for the latest Hoboken and Jersey City updates, sign up for our weekly newsletter here that shares everything you missed each week, and check out our events calendar, which has over 100+ events weekly to peruse.
