Torrential rain turns roads into rivers in Hammonton, New Jersey: "It was terrifying"

Torrential rain turned roads into rivers across Hammonton, New Jersey, on Monday evening, leaving drivers stranded, cars stalled and homeowners cleaning up after floodwaters pushed into their yards.

Danielle Presti was on her way to meet family for dinner when the downpour intensified.

"It was terrifying," Presti said. "The water was up to the sidewalk. I mean, I wasn't sure if it was going to get worse. All of a sudden, all my lights started flashing on my dash and then my car just shut off."

Her vehicle became stranded in floodwaters, and she spent the evening waiting for a tow truck from a stranger's driveway.

"I'm not in my neighborhood, now in somebody else's yard," she said.

Presti was one of several drivers whose vehicles became disabled as heavy rain flooded roadways throughout the town. Even after the water receded, stalled cars remained scattered along streets while drivers waited for help.

Javier Alfaro had been driving home to Trenton after a day of construction work when rising water trapped his vehicle.

"Water started coming up — and we tried to get into a driveway, we couldn't, so we went into the curb," Alfaro said.

Emergency crews blocked off flooded streets, while tow trucks worked to remove stranded vehicles.

The flooding extended beyond the roadways.

Residents said water flowed across their lawns, with some saying it reached areas it had never reached before.

At Nancy Florczynski's home, floodwaters left behind mud, leaves and debris throughout her flower beds.

"It went into all of the flower beds here," Florczynski said.

She said her property has experienced flooding in the past, but nothing comparable to Monday night's storm.

"It has come up on the grass, but never to the steps," Florczynski said. "It has never come. This is the farthest it has come in 21 years that we've been here."