UPDATED: New Brunswick Prepares for Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: Elijah's Promise will serve their daily meals today as scheduled and open at 7 p.m. as a shelter for the city's homeless. Their other operations, including the Better World Cafe, the Culinary School are closed Monday and Tuesday.

All municipal offices will be closed on Monday, Oct. 29 until further notice. 

City residents will be able to pick up free bags of sand to reinforce their property starting at 8 a.m. Monday.

The bags will be available at the Department of Public Works, located at 400 Jersey Ave.

There will be a 10 bag limit per resident, according to the city.

A public shelter at Lord Stirling Community School, 101 Redmond St., will open up at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, according to city spokesman Russell Marchetta.

The temporary shelter is open to all residents who need to leave their homes due to the hurricane, but do not have anywhere else to go.

Pets will be permitted at the shelter, but only cats and dogs, Marchetta said.

All cats and dogs that are brought in must be in cages or carriers, and they will be kept in an area separate from the public, he said. Residents are welcome to stay with their pets in that area, he said.

The shelter will have custodial staff and police presence starting at 6 p.m., Marchetta said.

New Brunswick Public Schools have announced via Nixle that classes at all the city's public schools are canceled for Monday and Tuesday due to Hurricane Sandy.

It has also been announced by the New Brunswick Parking Authority that residents of flood-prone areas may park in city parking decks for free to get their cars out of harm's way.

The following information was posted on the New Brunswick Police Department's Nixle page:

At (6 p.m.) Sunday evening we will raise the gates for our city residents at the following parking decks; Church Street, Ferren Daily, Gateway, Morris Street, New Street and Plum Street.

Residents of Riverwatch, Hiram Square and Plaza Square Apartments are asked to park at the Morris Street Garage located at the corner of New and George Streets.

We ask that you would please pull a ticket upon entering. During this storm emergency residents will be allowed to exit free of charge. Please show the attendant your ticket, hang tag or decal upon exiting.

For any other information please call our Security Department twenty four hours a day at (732) 236-7546.

For updates please visit our website at www.njnbpa.org or follow us on (Twitter at Twitter.com/NJNBPA).

A map of parking decks in New Brunswick can be found here.

Rutgers University classes at the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses have been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, and Middlesex County College has canceled all classes from 6 a.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday, depending on the storm's progression.

Additionally, the Middlesex County Courthouse on Bayard Street will be closed on Monday.

The city is sending hurricane updates out via the New Brunswick Police Department Nixle account, and the City of New Brunswick's Twitter page.

Non-emergency calls can be directed to the police department at (732) 745-5200. In the event of an emergency, calls should be made to 9-1-1.

You can also follow New Brunswick Patch at www.twitter.com/NBrunswickPatch for ongoing coverage and local updates about the storm conditions.