Some New Jersey Residents Say Flooding Is Making Them Physically Sick
A flood warning is in effect for many parts of New Jersey. The rain that began Tuesday will continue to fall in the saturated region through Thursday.
Watch CBS News
A flood warning is in effect for many parts of New Jersey. The rain that began Tuesday will continue to fall in the saturated region through Thursday.
Hurricane Irene stormed through New Jersey last Sunday, but her after-effects are still very much being felt.
President Barack Obama says he will do whatever it takes to help those communities that were flooded, battered and bruised by Irene.
"A lot of people don't have nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing," business owner Manuel Benitez told CBS 2's Dave Carlin.
The swollen Passaic River has delivered a walloping one-two punch to the town of Wallington, N.J. in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
Residents in Wallington said they received messages Tuesday morning that evacuations would take place. Some people struggled to make sense of flooding and shocked by the pure scale of the damage.
New Jersey rivers busted out of their banks Monday, causing record floods in some places and leaving residents elsewhere frustrated.
"Everything is cleaned out. I never expected to see this many people in here," one shopper in Waretown said. "I came to pick up a couple things and just got all wrapped up in the hype I guess."
Authorities believe a body found in the Passaic River this weekend is that of a Paterson man who went missing last month after being released from a northern New Jersey hospital.
As flood-prone areas of New Jersey began drying out Tuesday, angry residents of flooded areas called again on New Jersey's leaders to do more to keep their roads and homes dry.
Forecasters said minor to moderate flooding will continue along the Passaic River at Pine Brook and Little Falls and the Rockaway River at Boonton until they begin to recede Tuesday.
"The citizens of, in this case, New Jersey, they own the waterfront," says Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan. "People own the waterfront. The people."
Contractors hit the streets Wednesday in Little Falls to begin accessing the cost of the cleanup. For many families, their pre-damage assessments are the first step in receiving much needed financial aid.
Cleaning kits were loaded onto an oversized municipal truck in Little Falls to help residents get their lives back.
Many roads in flood-struck areas were expected to remain closed until sometime Monday or even Tuesday.
Rain-swollen waterways in northern New Jersey were slowly receding Sunday after cresting overnight, causing fewer evacuations than expected but still flooding roadways around in the region.
Hundreds of people remained out of their homes Saturday as major flooding continued along the Passaic and Raritan rivers in New Jersey.
Heavy rains drenched already flood-weary communities in New Jersey on Thursday, forcing thousands of residents to prepare for disaster.
Thousands of residents in flood-prone neighborhoods across New Jersey were bracing themselves for additional rain headed into the area.
Forecasters said between one and three inches of rain could soak the state Thursday and flooding could continue into Friday evening.
A panel has called for a moratorium on new construction in the basin's flood plains, which span the eastern Highlands region, Pompton Valley and the Watchung Mountains.
Animal welfare authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for dumping a group of soft-shell turtles by the roadside in New Jersey.
Wallington police said a man drove his car into the Passaic River early Saturday morning.
It's a true case of the "calm before the storm" in New Jersey, where residents are preparing for the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole to wreak havoc on the tri-state.