Flood — Middlesex, New Jersey

2007-04-15 to 2007-04-17 · near Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey

Event narrative

In Middlesex County, nearly every municipality suffered flood damage or had roads closed due to flooding. Many major roads were flooded including U.S. Routes 1 and 9 and New Jersey State Routes 18 and 27. Nearly 1,000 people were evacuated and 129 homes suffered severe damage. A 52-year-old man drowned in Woodbridge after he drove his vehicle into a flooded underpass (Leesville Avenue). The three other family members in the car were able to be saved. Many sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed and raw sewage backed into police stations and basements of homes.

In Carteret Borough, 25 roads were closed. In Woodbridge Township, about 300 people were evacuated. The Queens Gardens Apartment Complex and the Ideal Mobile Home were evacuated. Flooding occurred along both the Woodbridge Creek and the Rahway River. The worst flooding occurred in the Avenel section of the township. In Edison Township, twelve units of the Evergreen Apartments were evacuated. A train track bed washed away, even a food pantry was flooded. In South Plainfield Borough, five homes were evacuated. There were about a half dozen vehicular water rescues. A retaining wall collapsed behind a Sears store on Oaktree Road.

In Middlesex Borough, homes on Cap Lane, 7th Street, Rock Lane, Weiss Drive and residents of the Park Brook Gardens Apartment were evacuated. About 300 homes were damaged by the flooding. In Dunellen Borough, people were evacuated from homes on Mountaiview Terrace, Orange and Front Streets. About 30 homes were damaged. In Piscataway Township, about 300 people were evacuated and 8 roadways were closed. The Bridge for the New Market Pond collapsed. The flooding's epicenter was around River Road. The Mayflower, Birchview and Rivercrest Apartments were evacuated.

In New Brunswick, major traffic headaches occurred because of the Raritan River flooding of New Jersey State Route 18. The Interchange 9 exit was closed on the New Jersey Turnpike. Rutgers University cancelled classes on both the 16th and 17th. In Sayreville Borough, residents along Weber Avenue and near the Old Bridge section near the South River were evacuated. In South River Borough, evacuations occurred around the Causeway Bridge and Water Street. About 75 homes were flooded. In Milltown Borough, a flooded substation caused 7,000 people to lose power. The borough's post office suffered extensive flood damage. The Lawrence Brook flooded.

In East Brunswick, evacuations occurred on their side of Old Bridge near the South River. In South Brunswick, limited evacuations occurred at the Oakdale Mobile Home near U.S. Route 1. Flood waters tore away chunks of U.S. Route 1. About 50 dogs were rescued from a flooded kennel. Eighteen roads were closed and thirty-six homes were flooded. In Monroe Township, nine families were evacuated from the Mill Lake Manor section. Fifteen roadways were closed. In Cranbury Township, Brainard Lake overflowed. In Plainsboro Township, so many roads were flooded that the township was practically an island until the 17th.

The Raritan River at Bound Brook (Somerset County) was above its 28 foot flood stage from 644 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 350 p.m. on the 17th. It crested at 38.38 feet at 1245 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It was the 2nd highest crest on record, second only to the crest from Hurricane Floyd on September 17th, 1999. The Bound Brook at Middlesex was above its 9 foot flood stage from 655 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 717 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It crested at 12.1 feet at 315 a.m. EDT on the 16th.

Precipitation totals included 7.01 inches in Deans and 5.63 inches in Metuchen.

Wider weather episode

An intense nor'easter brought heavy rain and flooding to New Jersey that started on the 15th. The worst flooding occurred along the Raritan and Passaic River Basins. It was the worst flooding in the Raritan Basin since Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Bound Brook and Manville were once again hit hard as were communities on the other side of the Raritan River in Middlesex County. Along the Passaic Basin, Lincoln Park also was hit hard. The nor'easter also brought strong to high winds as well as some snow to the state on the 16th. Numerous streams and rivers flooded, but the flooding along the Delaware River was minimal.

Statewide damage was estimated at $180 million dollars. It was the second worst rain storm (not related to a hurricane) in the state's history. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey declared a state of emergency on the 16th. About 5,000 people were evacuated in 11 of the state's 21 counties. At one time over 70 major roadways and interstates were closed including New Jersey State Routes 20, 23, 38, 46, 70 and 73 as well as U.S. Route 30 and Interstates 80 and 380. There were over 700 traffic accidents indirectly caused by the flooding and heavy rain. Three people in the state drowned. The strong winds caused about 120,000 homes and businesses in the state to lose power. Power was not completely restored until the 18th. The combination of the snow, wind (power outages) and flooding caused many school districts to either cancel classes or have delayed openings on the 16th. Even Rutgers University was closed on the 16th and 17th. In the Raritan Basin, school closings lasted into the week of April 23rd. The nor'easter was so nasty that even the Internal Revenue Service extended the tax deadline for 48 hours in affected areas. The heavy and flooding rains was expected to delay the spring planting on farms. Garden center and nursery business which was already slow because of the unseasonably cold weather was dealt another set-back. Twelve counties in the state were declared federal disaster areas and included Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris and Somerset Counties.

Rain began falling throughout the area during the late evening on the 14th. It started briefly as snow over some of the higher terrain of Susse County. The rain fell at its heaviest from about 3 a.m. EDT on the 15th to about 3 a.m. EDT on the 16th. As the upper air disturbance moved across New Jersey, the rain did change to snow for a couple of hours around sunrise on the 16th and accumulated about an inch or two on grassy areas in western New Jersey. The steady precipitation ended during the afternoon and early evening on the 16th. Event precipitation totals averaged 3 to 6 inches. Event snowfall totals were an inch or two in most areas, mainly on grassy areas.

The strongest winds occurred as the nor'easter pulled northeast of the region on the 16th from the early morning into the afternoon. The combination of the heavy rain, even some snow and the winds helped knock down numerous trees and power lines. Peak wind gusts averaged between 40 and 60 mph.

The nor'easter low pressure system initially formed in the southern Rockies on the 12th and moved to Arkansas on the morning of the 14th. At 8 p.m. EDT on the 14th, there were two low pressure systems, one in Kentucky and the other in western Alabama. The southern low pressure system became the predominate one overnight and at 8 a.m. EDT on the 15th, it (996 millibar low) was located in western North Carolina. As the 15th continued, it moved northeast and intensified rapidly. At 2 p.m. EDT the nor'easter (989 millibars) was near Raleigh, North Carolina. At 8 p.m. EDT, the nor'easter was a 979 millibar low pressure system near Virginia Beach, Virginia. Another low pressure system formed on its warm front during the afternoon over Chesapeake Bay and at 8 p.m. EDT it (982 millibars) was over extreme southwest New Jersey. The lows consolidated into one again overnight and a very intense 973 millibar low pressure system was located over Monmouth County, New Jersey at 2 a.m. EDT on the 16th. At 8 a.m. EDT on the 16th the nor'easter was down to 968 millibars and located over New York City. That was a drop in central pressure of 28 millibars in 24 hours which qualified it as a meteorological bomb (a drop in central pressure of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours) low pressure system. The nor'easter bottomed at a pressure of about 966 millibars (28.53 inches) at 11 a.m. EDT just south of Long Island, New York. To put into prospective how low the pressure was with this nor'easter, that central pressure is near the border of the pressure defined category 2 and category 3 hurricane once used on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As the 16th continued, the nor'easter weakened and meandered across southwest New England and the New York and New Jersey coastal waters. By 2 a.m. EDT on the 17th, the nor'easter's central pressure rose to 988 millibars and a second storm formed on the triple point of its fronts south of Nova Scotia. This became the main low pressure system. The low pressure system then slowly moved southeast over the next couple of days. The heaviest precipitation fell as the low pressure system was rapidly intensifying on the 15th into the early part of the 16th. The strongest winds ceased after the low pressure system started to fill on the afternoon of the 16th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.5700, -74.3000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 26687. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.