Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way declares state of emergency in New Jersey

Severe weather August 9

Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Muphy is on vacation at his villa in Italy, has declared a state of emergency for New Jersey. The state of emergency went into effect at 6 p.m. Friday.

Severe weather is expected in parts of the state during the weekend as remnants of Hurricane Debby pass through the region.

State workers in Trenton were sent home at 1:30 p.m. on Friday due to the weather forecast.

Early Friday afternoon, flash floods in northern Pennsylvania and southern New York trapped people in their homes. Some people had to be rescued with boats and helicopters.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for several counties, including Mercer County, that is in effect until 10 p.m. A wind advisory is also in effect. A flash flood watch is in effect until 1 a.m. Saturday for Central New Jersey counties.

Flooding is possible this weekend and early next week. The Princeton region could see between .75 and 1.5 inches of rain over the weekend. Because the ground is already saturated due to rainfall in recent days, flooding is likely in areas that are prone to flooding.

New Jersey Transit

Remnants of Debby disrupted New Jersey Transit rail service Friday. Flooding and downed trees have caused issues on several rail lines.

River Line service is suspended in both directions between the Waterfront Entertainment Center and Walter Rand Transportation Center due to flooding in Camen.

Rail service remains suspended on the Morris and Essex Line between Hackettstown and Summit and the Gladstone Branch between Gladstone and Summit, including Midtown Direct service, due to down trees near Summit. Crews are on the scene making repairs to overhead wires.

Limited rail service is operating between Summit and Hoboken.

NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes are still being cross-honored by NJ TRANSIT bus and private carriers and PATH at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken, and 33rd Street in Manhattan.

Airports

Airports are all experiencing delays and cancellations due to the weather.

By 5 p.m., 101 flights were canceled at LaGuardia Airport, 85 flights were canceled at Newark Airport, and 78 flights were canceled at JFK Airport. All three airports were experiencing inbound flight delays averaging about two hours.

Road closures

Cold Soil Road is closed between Lawrence Road (Route 206) and Woodfield Lane due to a downed tree down.

The Griggstown Causeway is open again as of Friday afternoon.

Route 206 at Ewing Street opened again Friday evening.

Avatar of Krystal Knapp

Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.

One Comment

  1. How about a real state of emergency – our crappy roads and artificially inflated wages for state jobs!!!!!

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