More Rain Expected On Sunday; May Produce Flooding Early Part Of Coming Week

Don’t look now, but we could be getting more flooding Sunday into Monday in many areas in the Garden State.  In Northeastern New Jersey, we could be having a repeat of last week for places like Pequannock, Pompton Plains, Little Falls, and Wayne.  Last week, these areas received flooding from the nearby Passaic River, which didn’t have to go far to reach flood stage.

The Passaic only has to reach 8 or 9 feet in these locations for flooding to start to occur.  Last week was the fourth time in the last six years that some of the locations along the Passaic received flooding.  The region has been notorious for having a flooding problem, particularly in Wayne.  Meanwhile, in Central Jersey, similar issues confront those living along the Raritan River such as Bound Brook and Manville.

Last week, there was minor to moderate flooding in these spots as the Raritan went a couple feet above flood stage in these two locations.  Like Wayne and other locales along the Passaic, the towns of Bound Brook and Manville have been repeatedly affected by flood waters from the Raritan.  Among some of the major flooding events were from the remnants of Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and an April Nor’easter back in 2007.

When flooding affected the Passaic River towns of Wayne, Pequannock, and others, Governor Chris Christie paid a visit, and empathized greatly with the residents plight.  However, local officials feel it is time for action.  Like with the levees in New Orleans, the flood basins that are involved here have been projects by the federal government that have been going on for decades.  A good deal of the reason why they have been ongoing for so long is because there is very little in the way of funding.

Now, with local, state, and federal governments forced to cut back in response to deficits, there may not be a lot done to fix the problem in the near term.  To make matters worse, there was more rain on Saturday, and more is on the way on Sunday.  The rainfall could be moderate to heavy into Monday according to the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook from the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey.  As a result, more flooding could occur early next week.