Officials say water pressure should be gradually returning to a small New Jersey city across the Hudson River from Manhattan stricken by a water main break that left most residents with no water service or low water pressure.

Hoboken Mayor Ravinder Bhalla says crews have successfully isolated the broken water main, which he called "the critical step needed to allow water to flow around the area and water pressure to return to the rest of the city."

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Bhalla said Tuesday evening that water pressure should gradually return in the coming hours. Veolia, the company that provides city water, said crews were reopening valves to stabilize water pressure throughout the city.

The problems in Hoboken began around noon Monday, when a construction crew accidentally struck a water main. Veolia said the force of the rupture penetrated two mains or an interconnection of mains, and it isolated one 16-inch main but was working to isolate the other one.

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Veolia said it was safe to drink the water and didn't issue a boil water advisory. But related problems prompted the city to issue a state of emergency and close public schools and municipal offices. Hoboken University Medical Center started evacuating some patients Tuesday because of the lack of water.

City officials set up water stations and placed portable toilets across Hoboken.