Area Schools, Borough Offices Close Ahead of Hurricane Sandy

Students will get to sleep in on Monday and parents can breathe easier as the majority of the local public and parochial schools in the River Dell area have announced they will be closed tomorrow.

The Oradell, River Edge and River Dell school districts will all be closed on Monday as well as St. Joseph School. St. Peter's Academy is expected to be closed both Monday and Tuesday.

Chris Gwynne, director of the The Reformed Church Nursery School sent out an email stating that the school will also be closed.

Bergen Catholic High School will close both Monday and Tuesday as per its website and Paramus Catholic High School has announced itwill close Monday and will make a decision about closing Tuesday at a later time.

Bergen Community College has announced there will be no classes on Monday due to the pending storm. The College will serve as a shelter for residents as needed.

Oradell announced on its website that all borough offices will be closed on Monday and OEM coordinator Derek Kahill issued a NIXLE alert that all garbage and recycling pickups are cancelled for Monday and Tuesday. Pickup has been postponed until Thursday and Friday. All borough parks are also closed until further notice.

Both Oradell and River Edge are under a high wind warning and flood watch until 6pm Tuesday. Hurricane Sandy is expected to bring northeast winds measuring 30 to 50mph with gusts up to 80mph. The strongest winds could hit Monday afternoon and night.

The National Weather Service has estimated that Sandy would bring 2 to 4 inches of rain from Monday morning through Tuesday with the potential of up to 6 inches total.

As of 5:15pm Sunday evening, the Hackensack River in New Milford was measured at 1.63 feet. Based on NWS predictions, the river could reach up to 5.5 feet by 2am Monday morning.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Oradell Reservoir is at 17.74 feet. The highest it can go without spilling over is 23.16 feet. Governor Chris Christie has ordered on Friday that all reservoirs be lowered in advance of Hurricane Sandy to mitigate any potential flooding. By Saturday 6pm, the lowering of the Oradell Reservoir had ceased to allow for water to clear the system.

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