Hurricane Irene forces virtual shutdown of New Jersey; arriving flights canceled at area airports as of noon Saturday.

The virtual shutdown of New Jersey will continue Saturday, with NJ Transit and PATH suspending rail service by noon, buses and light-rail ceasing around 6 p.m., and the Garden State Parkway remaining closed to southbound traffic near the Shore.

Meanwhile, more than 24 hours before Hurricane Irene was due to touch down, North Jersey towns were making final preparations Friday for possible flooding, downed trees and power outages as the storm slowly inched its way up the Eastern Seaboard.

The Port Authority announced late Friday that it would close its five airports — Newark Liberty International, Teterboro, John F. Kennedy International, La Guardia and Stewart International — to arriving flights starting at noon Saturday. The airports would remain open to departing flights until further notice, the agency said.

Rain from Irene is expected to begin in New Jersey this evening with the hurricane hitting the southern part of the state around 8 a.m. Sunday, forecasts show.

Irene was still a Category 2 hurricane as it approached North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Friday, triggering the cancellation of at least 6,100 flights over the next three days. It could lose power as it approaches North Jersey, but it still could pack wind gusts of up to 100 mph and dump 8 to 12 inches of rain on the region, according to AccuWeather. It may be out of the metropolitan region by 8 p.m. Sunday.

While thousands of residents were ordered to flee the state’s barrier islands, Governor Christie warned that damage will not be confined to the shore.

“This is not just going to be a coastal incident, this is an incident that’s going to be statewide for us,” he said.

“We are looking at the likelihood of record flooding,” Christie said. “We’re in for a long haul here.”

The IZOD Center in East Rutherford would be opened Saturday as a shelter, Christie said.

The Public Service Electric and Gas Co. will have about 6,000 employees on hand Sunday, including 840 linemen and 540 tree contractors available to respond to outages once Irene leaves. The utility also expects heavy rain to lead to gas outages. Water could enter the utility’s gas distribution system along with customers’ basements.

While NJ Transit, PATH and New York City subway trains will stop at noon Saturday, bus, light-rail and Access Link service for disabled riders will operate until 6 p.m. All mass transit trips that began before the scheduled service suspensions will complete the journey, the transit agencies said.

All southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway south of Exit 98 closed at 8 p.m. Friday.

Both levels of the George Washington Bridge will be closed Sunday if winds reach a sustained 60 mph, the Port Authority said. The lower level will be closed if winds reach 40 mph; trucks, motorcycles and motor homes will be banned if winds hit 50 mph.

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan said Friday that she and county officials, as well as representatives from PSE&G and Rockland Electric, will be working out of the county's public safety complex in Mahwah over the weekend.

“We’re going to be facing some enormous challenges over the next couple of days,” Donovan said.

Towns prepare

Towns across North Jersey prepared for the storm Friday.

Along Cedar Grove Road in Little Falls, public works employees reinforced a flood wall along the Peckman River with 25 to 30 cement blocks, each weighing one ton. The wall was damaged in Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, and a swollen Peckman inundated an entire neighborhood.

“We’re not sure the wall is going to hold up to the hurricane so we’re just trying to give it a little protection,” said Phillip Simone, the township’s public works director.

David Santalla, whose house on Cedar Grove Road was damaged by Floyd, said he hoped the work would prevent the wall from breaching. “As long as it stays put we will be okay,” he said.

In Palisades Park on Friday, workers stripped Broad Avenue of flag poles, trash cans, newspaper vending machines, loose signage and “anything that could become a projectile,” Borough Administrator David Lorenzo said.

“Everything was battened down by 11 a.m.” Lorenzo said. “I think we are the readiest — if that’s a word — than we have ever been for any event.”

Paterson residents won’t find much relief in their own city. Mayor Jeffery Jones urged residents in need of shelter to use the Red Cross regional shelter at Bergen Community College in Paramus. That’s a better choice for a shelter than somewhere in Paterson, which has a history of flooding, the mayor said.

People who live along the Hudson River in Edgewater should stay elsewhere as a precaution starting Saturday night, borough officials warned Friday.

In North Bergen, Palisades General Hospital began evacuating all 80 of its patients as well as 74 residents from the nursing home next door as a precaution. The patients will be moved as a precaution to other hospitals by Saturday afternoon, officials said. contained in hospital sidbar

Oradell dispatched public works crews to clear catch basins after a rainstorm last week caused flooding in areas that do not typically flood. An emergency command center will be set up at Borough Hall on Sunday, with representatives from all municipal services.

The first aid squad in Woodland Park plans to visit residents who have special medical needs, such as using oxygen to breathe, to check on their emergency plans, Police Chief Anthony Galietti said.

PSE&G sent service trucks to several towns Friday to trim tree branches near power lines.

“The rain we can handle – it’s high winds and a loss of power that will be a real problem,” said Sam Garofalo, the public works superintendent in Garfield. “I’ve been told that if power goes out in this area, it may be out for an entire day before it’s restored.”

Residents in flood-prone areas of New Milford will be asked to voluntary evacuate by 8 a.m. Sunday. Meanwhile, in Teaneck, workers were clearing storm drains in areas that typically flood. Township officials said they were making plans to put extra police officers on duty Saturday and added that they may open a shelter if needed.

Police in Passaic will focus their attention on flooding in the city’s lower east side, near the Passaic River, police said. That area flooded during Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, said Detective Andrew White. Officers will “follow the river, and if it gets to a stage where it will go over the banks, then we’ll send out evacuations,” White said.

Customers flocked to The Home Depot in Lodi, but found most of the in-demand equipment — generators, batteries, flashlights and sump pumps — sold out. The next generator shipment was due Friday night from a vendor out west – the only seller the store could buy from since generators are coveted up and down the east coast.

“There was a panic with the snowstorm, but nothing like this,” said Yolanda Denson, the store manager.

Tanis Hardware in Haledon was flooded with 400 to 500 customers by early afternoon Friday looking for everything from generators to charcoal for cooking if the power goes out. The Belmont Avenue store sold out of 200 flashlights by noon.

Mike Pizzi came out of the Stop and Shop on Route 17 in Paramus with some cold cuts and drinks for what he called a “one-day event.” He said the hurricane was being blown out of proportion, though he acknowledged he was worried about falling trees. “I have a lot of trees on my property,” he said.

Peter Tuttman came to buy flashlights and found none. He headed straight for the canned goods. “I’m hearing of potential outages, so better safe than sorry,” he said.

In Pequannock, homeowner Greg Dabice was busy Friday boarding up his basement windows and packing his family's belongings before temporarily relocating to a friend’s home across town. Dabice has lived in his Roosevelt Street home since 2005, and said his basement has flooded three times.

“I almost have the system down, unfortunately,” he said. “I get everything out of the basement. We have five kids, so we have a lot of stuff.”

His wife and children plan to stay with family in another part of town as the hurricane rolls in, with potential for flooding along the Pompton River near his home. But Dabice said he will stay put.

“I have four pumps now and a generator,” he said. “I have all the tools to fight it so I really want to stay with the house.”

Two major roadways to the Jersey Shore — routes 70 and 72 — were closed to eastbound traffic at 6 p.m. Friday to allow all lanes to handle westbound evacuees.

Tolls were suspended on the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and the Atlantic City Expressway starting Friday morning to keep traffic moving.

Source:   http://www.northjersey.com