"Flooding is ongoing in many places and will worsen as the rain continues," he said. "Once the rain stops, we'll still be dealing with the flooding consequences of the storm."
He offered a final piece of advice.
"The best thing to do is stay at home and watch The Sopranos," he said. "Just stay off the roads."
The storm ended up assaulting Secaucus with eight inches of rain. David A. Robinson, the official New Jersey state climatologist, said it the worst April storm on record.
A walk (or wade) around town last week revealed that while the town managed to minimize storm damage in many ways, there is still considerably more to be done in the way of flood prevention.
Neighbors wade to work
Many roads were adversely affected by the record rainfall, with parts of Meadowlands Parkway, Mill Ridge Road, Route 3, and nearby Route 17 all closed due to flooding.
Secaucus Road, near Penhorn Creek, was hardest hit by the storm. The scene at the corner of Secaucus Road and Henry Street, close to the Jersey City-Secaucus border, reminded onlookers of Venice. A large lagoon of up to four feet deep blocked traffic, flooded homes, and impeded business in the area.
Willie Sanchez is a receiving supervisor at Goldwell of New Jersey Inc., a beauty salon equipment and hair care products company at 78 Henry St. Sanchez wore a pair of large yellow Wellington boots as he escorted workers to and from the company last week.
"I've got to get my people in and out of work OK," he said. "You've got to try to keep people safe."
Sanchez looked at the small lake he was leading people around and shook his head.
"This is the worst that I've seen it down here in 12 years," he said.
The view of the storm's effects improved closer to the center of town. Dave McAdam, a town Department of Public Works employee, stood on the front step of his home at 715 Humboldt St. with his wife Dawn. McAdam noted that he was personally ready for the storm with two sub pumps, French drains, and a generator keeping his homestead relatively dry.
However, McAdam also pointed out that he felt that Secaucus was municipally ready for the wicked whims of nature.
"I think that our town did well with dealing with the storm," he said. "When you look at what happened in places like Bound Brook and Wayne, we only had minor flooding."
But based on her experiences, Barbara Napierski, McAdam's neighbor at 717 Humboldt St., was displeased with the town efforts to control flooding.
"I'm very annoyed," she said. "The drain they put in Fountain Park across the street was getting backed up, which means it's not working properly. Then my backyard flooded, which meant that I got a few inches of water in my basement up to my cellar stair. They built that pump station at Golden Avenue around the corner. The water has to have a place to go. What are we doing? Something is wrong."
Town officials note flood prevention progress
Joseph Kickey, a Secaucus police captain who is also the Secaucus Office of Emergency Management coordinator, defended the town's flooding relief efforts.
He noted no one was hurt during the flooding and that two necessary flooding-related evacuations were carried out successfully.
Kickey suggested that residents should have a pump on hand just in case. He admitted that patience is also required after a large flood when dealing with the vagaries of nature.
"We have to wait until Penhorn Creek goes down," he said. "They've done a lot of new construction in that area, so a lot of areas where the water used to run off on the way out to the Hackensack River are now actual properties. As a result, it takes a lot longer for the water to flow through the creek out to the river. Last time we had a rainstorm of this level, it took a week and a half for the area to completely clear so we could fully open Secaucus Road again."
Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell noted that the town had taken measures over the last 15 years to prevent flooding in local bodies of water.
"In 1992, we had a similar storm," he said. "The town has done numerous things since then, and it wasn't as bad this time because of what we've done. But we have to increase the size of the lines at the Golden Avenue pump station. We also have to get the tide gates at Sack Creek fully operable. The wiring is due to be done this week. This created some problems."
In 2004, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission approved $150,000 to address flooding on Mill Ridge Road. The agency also commissioned a flood simulator from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers called the Hackensack River Basin Model, to determine how to relieve flooding in the area. The town's own Flood Committee has met several times on the issue, and the town has added fortifications to other bodies of water and installed pumps to remove rising floodwaters.
Elwell said that Secaucus Road is a particularly persistent problem. He also noted that while nature is a defining frustrating factor in flood prevention, dealing with dueling jurisdictions and property lines can also prove to be problematic.
"The pipe that runs through the Norfolk Southern and Croxton railroad yards for drainage of the entire Penhorn Creek basin is totally clogged with silt," he said. "We've been arguing with them for eight years now to clean them out. It's their property, and they have to do it. We've got a letter out to the railroad and to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) and the county to demand a meeting to get the railroad to fix the pipe."
Finally, Elwell got right to the point regarding the conflicting boundaries lines between the town, government agencies, and private entities.
"A lot of these projects have been talked about for years," he said. "But sometimes when we deal with the Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps of Engineers and other governmental agencies, these things get dragged out. The state and federal agencies need to really sit down with local agencies and start working together. More importantly, they should shorten the amount of time it takes to get things done. In the end, they may drag things out, but we are the ones who are criticized. But for a town on a river, we still fared better than most."
Federal dollars may soon help
One of the state officials Mayor Elwell will look to in order to facilitate possible post-flood relief aid for Secaucus will be state Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-32nd Dist.)
Pointing out that Acting Gov. Codey had already urged U.S. President George W. Bush to declare New Jersey a federal disaster area in the wake of the storm, Prieto suggested that a regional approach is necessary for truly effective flood prevention.
"We are in a unique situation because we have the NJMC as part of our district," he said. "What I've been trying to do is obtain some state funds in the form of grant money from the NJMC so that we can effectuate flood prevention in areas adjacent to the district that still impact the district. These funds can help us to build the storm drains that will bring greater relief to all of us."
Mark J. Bonamo can be reached at mbonamo@hudsonreporter.com.
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