Flash Flood — Passaic, New Jersey

2021-09-01 · near Clifton, Passaic, New Jersey

Event narrative

The Passaic River at Dundee Dam in Clifton rose above its minor flood stage of 4.5 feet at 10:15pm EDT and crested at a height of 4.98 feet at 12:45am EDT September 2nd. The river then fell back below flood stage at 3:45am EDT on September 2nd. Flooding from the Passaic River resulted in three fatalities. A 70 year old man died when his car became stranded in 6 feet of water at the intersection of Passaic Avenue and Lackawana Place in Passaic.

Wider weather episode

Extremely heavy rainfall associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida overspread northeast New Jersey during the evening of September 1 and continued through the early morning hours of September 2. Rainfall totals ranged from 5-8+ inches across much of the region, with much of that rain falling in just a few hours. The ASOS at Newark Airport recorded 8.44 inches of rain, while the ASOS at Teterboro Airport recorded 7.14 inches. A COOP observer in Harrison recorded 8.72 inches of rain. This resulted in widespread flash flooding leading to numerous road closures and water rescues in addition to extensive river flooding. Eight people died as a result of the flash flooding and one person remains missing.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.8825, -74.1289)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 987245. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.