Photos: Fort Lee Braces For Irene

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich followed up Friday’s hurricane advisory issued on the borough’s website with one translated into Korean, reiterating—in a language spoken by many of the borough’s residents—that they should remain indoors during the approaching hurricane and assuring them that Fort Lee’s emergency service agencies “are on the highest level of alert.”

Saturday morning the borough issued an alert that the Port Authority will close the George Washington Bridge to trucks and motorcycles if sustained winds reach 40 to 45 MPH and completely if winds reach 60 to 65 MPH.

Saturday afternoon at about 4 p.m. Fort Lee officials announced that neighboring Edgewater had issued a voluntary evacuation notice for residents in low-lying areas along the Hudson Corridor and said River Road southbound was being closed at 8 p.m., which could result in barricades being placed in Fort Lee.

NorthJersey.com reported that the mayor of Edgewater declared a state of emergency and that Edgewater police said that borough had “arranged with Fort Lee” to evacuate people to the Fort Lee Community Center if necessary.

Saturday evening the Port Authority announced that it closed the lower level of the George Washington Bridge in both directions. The upper level of the bridge remained open as of 9 p.m.

Stay informed

For the latest local information, check the borough’s website, visit the Fort Lee Office of Emergency Management online or sign up to receive borough-issued alerts and notifications via email or text by registering for its Nixle alert notification system here and then subscribing to the Borough of Fort Lee’s notifications here.

In the event of an emergency, call 911.