1 year after Ida, hard-hit Manville continues to rebuild, upgrade warning systems
MANVILLE, N.J. -- Manville, in Somerset County, New Jersey, was one of the hardest places hit when remnants of Hurricane Ida slammed the Tri-State Area one year ago.
Many had to be rescued by boat and a few by state police helicopter.
Several structures exploded, and the gas-fed fires burned on because flood waters prevented anyone from getting to them.
Jason Monsell shared photos with CBS2's Alice Gainer, showing his house underwater.
"Our neighbor got rescued off her roof, stepped right off into a boat," he said.
He finally moved back in a few months ago, but the repairs continue.
Most areas have been cleaned up, but a visible scar remains just a few doors down from Monsell on North Second Avenue -- what's left of several homes and a banquet hall that exploded last September.
READ MORE (9/4/2021): Nightmare In Manville, NJ As Homes And A Business Explode In Ida's Aftermath; Family Grateful To Be Alive
In the days after, CBS2 spoke with the family who lived in that home. So too did President Joe Biden when he visited.
The family who lived there, we're told, has since moved out of the area. Officials estimate between 125-150 homes in Manville were uninhabitable after the storm.
IDA: ONE YEAR LATER:
- CBS2 goes to hard-hit Elizabeth, N.J., where the rebuilding continues
- How businesses suffering post-Ida got unexpected help
- Gov. Murphy announces $283 million in Ida relief funds for homeowners
- New York City to build 2,000 new rain gardens, install flood sensors citywide
- New York state, city working to prevent major roadways from flooding during major storms
- More stories on Ida: One Year Later
"We still have some people that are still out of their homes," said John Bentz, Manville Borough's office of emergency management director. "Some people just walked away. We had a few, you know, some houses where they said, you know what, I can't do it anymore."
The area is no stranger to flooding. It lies between the Raritan and Millstone rivers.
"We had buyouts from Irene. We had buyouts from Sandy, and we just recently, you know, they did some of the demolition from the buyouts that were from Sandy," Bentz said.
Buyouts after Ida remain to be seen. A meeting with the state scheduled for Sept. 8 will discuss how disaster recovery funds will be utilized.
Bentz says they did receive some money from FEMA.
"Debris removal alone was about $300,000," he said.
They've also made repairs to sewer plant machines.
As for lessons learned going forward, Bentz says, "Notifications will be big."
Watch: Gov. Murphy commemorates 1 year since Ida
He says the biggest problem last year was flash flooding with cars stuck around town.
"We kind of, you know, we waited a little bit bc we didn't want to get more people stuck," he said.
They're upgrading the siren system, and there's now an alert system through the My Manville app.
Bentz says the last time the department had to use their rescue boat was last year, but he points out hurricane season runs through November.
"Every time they call for rain, you think about it," he said.
As for Monsell, who also lost several cars trying to drive out, he didn't have flood insurance; he's paying out of pocket.
"And you wanted to rebuild, though?" Gainer asked.
"Yeah. I mean, it's a nice town," he said.
He estimates about 80% of the people on his street are back -- for now.
Meanwhile, officials are also calling for a study on Royce Brook, saying that area was a big problem during Ida. They believe all the building being done in the area means all the water is coming downstream to Manville.
