After Weekend of Floods, State of Emergency in Five New Jersey Counties

In a Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018 photo, a supermarket parking lot is flooded from rainfall in Little Falls, N.J.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in five counties Tuesday, following a weekend of torrential rains that left some towns with more rainfall than was expected in the entire month of August.  

"The last time [we] saw this type of flooding was Hurricane Floyd back in 1999," Little Falls Mayor James Damiano told the press in a conference call.

About five inches of rain in 50 minutes overflowed the Peckman River, a tributary of the Passaic. Fallen trees, mud, debris, and 42 SUVs that washed away from a car dealership also dammed the river, exacerbating flooding in neighboring Woodland Park. 

In a statement, Murphy said the emergency order in Bergen, Essex, Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic counties will allow state resources to go to communities most directly impacted by flooding.

Damiano said Little Falls was looking at almost $5 million worth of residential damages alone. Woodland Park Mayor Keith Kazmark calculated about $3.2 million in residential, commercial and municipal damages. Both will be looking to the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help.

At the request of both mayors, Muprhy visited their townships Monday and assessed the damage. He spoke to residents like William Wright, who moved into a new home with his wife Saturday, only to have everything wrecked by the flash flood hours later, according to the North Jersey Record.

"We had just moved in our stuff," Wright said. "We lost everything."

Brick Township in Ocean County was also hit hard, with entire areas still underwater Monday. Facebook user George Worthington even posted a video of himself water skiing in the flooded parking lot of a Pathmark grocery store.

"We’re seeing dangerous conditions over the state with entire streets flooded out and collapsing in places like Howell and Brick and cars washing away," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

"Communities and homes are completely ruined and underwater. Beaches are closed because they become contaminated with polluted stormwater runoff."

Officials urged residents to report storm damage and reach out for assistance to their county offices of emergency management. More rain is expected this weekend.