SECAUCUS — The heavy rainfall that hit the area Saturday has led to significant property damage in Secaucus, forcing more than a dozen residents from their homes, according to Mayor Michael Gonnelli.
The entire Mid-Atlantic region was hit with a slow-moving rainstorm that sat over New Jersey all day Saturday and caused massive damage throughout the state. The rainfall soaked land that was already saturated from melted snow from two winter storms that hit the region in February.
Mayor Gonnelli said the Hackensack River, which borders part of Secaucus, has crested two or three feet higher than normal.
Some of the worst damage was on Maple Street, where the roof came off of one home, and 10th Street. Elsewhere in town, between 30 and 40 cars were flooded and electrical wires came down. Water leaked into a number of furnaces. Several homes were still without power as of Sunday afternoon, the mayor said.
“There was just so much damage in the whole area that they haven’t gotten to us yet,” Gonnelli said Sunday, referring to PSE&G crews.
Sixteen residents whose homes experienced severe damage have been put up in local hotels. Gonnelli estimates it will be several days before these residents, many of whom live on 10th Street, will be able to return home.
Although one boy suffered a sprain, and a firefighter working on 10th Street received a cut that required stitches, no major injuries were reported, the mayor said.
Additional rain accumulation has been forecast for Sunday night and Monday. – E. Assata Wright