Storm's damage continues: Roads remain closed, waterways rise to record levels and electricity remains out for hundreds of thousands of N.J. residents Watch video
The ramp to U.S Route 46 east in Wayne from Interstate 80 east remains closed due to flooding from Hurricane Irene, forcing early morning commuters crawl along Route 80 from Parsippany to Wayne this morningAs the death toll from Hurricane Irene climbed to seven in New Jersey and 40 across the Eastern Seaboard Monday, rain-engorged rivers inflicted fresh damage and hardship across the state, washing out highways and chasing thousands more people from threatened homes.
Nine rivers and creeks had reached record flood levels, fed by Irene’s unrelenting rains, Gov. Chris Christie said during a press briefing in Manville Monday. All but the Passaic River had already crested, leaving residents in Fairfield, Lincoln Park and other hard-hit communities along the river with the specter of worse flooding this morning.
"We’re not out of the woods yet," Christie said.
Across New Jersey, it was a day of jarring contrasts, gains and setbacks.
NJ Transit announced it would resume most rail service, easing commutes for hundreds of thousands of people.
For tens of thousands of others, however, a travel nightmare is just beginning.
The raging Rockaway River sheared away a portion of Route 287 in Boonton, leaving the northbound lanes closed indefinitely. To the west in Hopewell Township, the Delaware River breached Route 29, ensuring it’s closure "for a very extended period of time," police said.
In Atlantic City, where casinos reopened after a costly shutdown of more than two days, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno urged New Jerseyans to "get the hell back on the beach," a play on Christie’s blunt evacuation order days earlier.
And yet farther north, in Point Pleasant Beach, the bodies of two men washed ashore. Authorities said it appeared they had gone to the water’s edge Sunday to watch the surf whipped up by the Category 1 storm.
Utility crews made immense headway, restoring power to more than 300,000 homes and businesses, but as darkness fell, more than half a million customers had no electricity.
The scene in New Jersey was repeated across the Atlantic Seaboard even as Irene faded over eastern Canada Monday night, its power spent. Rivers spilled their banks. Trees and branches fell. Emergency officials counted the dead.
That toll continued to climb.
Authorities had previously confirmed four New Jersey deaths associated with Irene. Tuesday brought three more.
Michael Kenwood, 39, a member of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, died of injuries he suffered Sunday when floodwaters ripped him away from a safety line as he investigated a submerged car. The vehicle turned out to be empty.
In Point Pleasant Beach, the body of 25-year-old Jorge Hernandez was found along a Manasquan River inlet jetty. Divers later discovered the body of a second man whose name was not immediately released. Investigators said they suspect the two men, both believed to be residents of the Shore community, had gone out to watch the storm.
Last night, another man was missing and feared dead in the Morris County community of Dover after rescuers called off a five-hour search in the Rockaway River. Earlier, a construction worker had seen the unidentified man clinging to overhanging branches on a small island in the river and calling for help.
Then he disappeared from view.
Rescuers found a pair of boots and wet clothing on the river bank, Assistant Fire Chief John Filosa said.
"There’s a lot of uncertainty," Filosa said. "You hope he was able to pull himself out, and there is always the chance that he wasn’t. It’s frustrating sometimes."
Two New Jersey residents died in other states.
James Palmer, 55, drowned in rough surf spawned by Irene while visiting Florida Saturday. Tuesday, authorities in Hockessin, Del., said they had found the bodies of two men, one of them identified as Jean Baptista, 25, of Clark. Baptista and his friend had ventured out in the storm on foot Sunday and were likely caught in a flash flood, police said.
The dangers continue.
In Pompton Lakes Monday morning, an unoccupied home exploded in a vacated flood zone, sending a cloud of black smoke over the area. With floodwaters chest high, firefighters battled the ensuing blaze from boats. The explosion’s cause was not immediately determined, though authorities noted natural gas service to the area had not been disconnected at the time.
Elsewhere, water rescues continued in places where water typically has no business being.
Authorities plucked 50 people to safety on West Grand Avenue in Rahway. In Parsippany, two New Jersey National Guard trucks were called in to rescue people trapped in a pair of hotels surrounded by water.
After touring flooded-out sites in Pompton Plains, Wayne and Little Falls Monday, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg called the damage historic.
"It’s more widespread," he said. "Its a terrible situation."
A power failure at St. Clare’s Hospital in Sussex County led to its evacuation. Patients were taken to another facility in the St. Clare’s Health System.
The number of road closures because of flooding improved some, but for those driving, it was all relative. More than 80 roads and highways remained closed, down from 300 Sunday, Christie said at his briefing in Manville Monday afternoon.
Several feet of water covered Manville and Bound Brook, which bore the brunt of the damage when Tropical Storm Floyd passed through 12 years ago. But with the Raritan River already receding, the communities escaped with less damage this time.
There was more concern in Fairfield, which authorities turned into a virtual island, closing off all but a few entry points in anticipation of epic flooding this morning. Monday, water rushed down Route 46 near the Willowbrook Mall and several other roads. First-responders made at least two water rescues, Mayor James Gasparini said.
In an effort to save lives wherever necessary, Essex County put together a rapid-deployment team made up of officers from throughout the county, Sheriff Armando Fontoura said. About 30 members of the National Guard are helping with the response, he said.
"People are going to be on an island for a couple of days," Fontoura said. "It’s going to be devastating. The worst is all to come."
Irene is likely to enter the record books as the second-wettest storm in New Jersey, after a hurricane in 1903, state climatologist David Robinson said. Freehold was hit by the most rain during Irene, with 11.2 inches. Other communities saw 6 to 10 inches.
"No one was immune," Robinson said.
Many residents are now worried about how they will pay for the damage, particularly if they do not have flood insurance.
Speaking Monday night on radio station 101.5 FM, Christie said President Obama called him personally during the day to give him assurances that resources will be available.
"I think he deserves great credit for how FEMA operated in the storm," Christie said. "I told the president that tonight."
Staff writers Ted Sherman, Sue Epstein, Jarrett Renshaw, Ryan Hutchins, Bill Wichert, Eugene Paik, Amy Brittain, Eugene Paik, Tom Haydon, Leslie Kwoh, Eliot Caroom, Seth Augenstein, Tomas Dinges and Ginger Gibson contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press also was used.