Hoboken, N.J., Residents Spend Another Night Out in the Cold in Flooded City

Nov. 1, 2012— -- As daylight faded in Hoboken, N.J., Wednesday, stranded residents prepared for another long, cold night.

With the power still out, the only lights that could be seen were those of fire trucks, ambulances and National Guard trucks. Flooded streets that might have been barely passable during the day now posed too many risks for drivers still hoping to reach family and friends in town.

Car after car came down the New York Avenue hill, only to stop and turn around at Observer Highway, with two to three feet of water an imposing obstacle.

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The situation, however, is improving in some parts of Hoboken. The floodwaters have receded in the past two days and continued to go down overnight, making some roads safe to drive on that only hours before had been unpassable.

With around 25 percent of this New Jersey city across the Hudson River from New York City now underwater, many of its 50,000 residents are without power, and four days after most stores shut down, residents are running low on food. In an apartment building at First and Harrison, residents grilled frozen pizza.

"It's scary. We don't have that much food. I mean, we prepared a little bit," one person said.

Around 10 p.m., a panicked Daniel Rosado managed to receive help from the National Guard to reach his two young cousins, ages 12 and 9, stuck in town.

It was his last hope of reaching them that night.

"My friends tried to help me out, they got stuck too," he said.

Although National Guard trucks drove door to door trying to assist people in need, the wait for some residents became agonizing. It could be seven to 10 days, residents said, before Hoboken has power again. The generators that so many are using for power only have so much gas on hand.

As Rosado pulled away in the back of the Army truck, a sign became visible across the street. "Welcome to Hoboken," it said, as floodwaters rose three feet at its base.