The heavy rainstorm that fell Monday on New Jersey caused severe damage in many parts of the state, which saw an average of 3 to 5 inches of rainfall. In some areas, residents needed to be rescued from their cars and others needed assistance to escape from their flooded homes.
Some communities still remain flooded, with north Jersey dealing with some of the most severe flooding.
“I feel badly for those residents that have to endure this, especially right before Christmas,” Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said.
Towns and cities bordering the Passaic River — including Wayne, Little Falls, Passaic, Lincoln Park and Paterson — saw the worst of it. Sayegh said the flooding, combined with freezing temperatures, led to dangerous road conditions, enough to close Paterson schools for the next two weeks.
New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson says this was the worst December rainstorm since records were first kept in the late 1800s. “The fact is there’s no denying New Jersey’s climate is changing,” Robinson said. “We’re getting warmer. We’re seeing more large rainstorms, and we see that in the cards for the future.”
