Flood of ’05 still a topic of concern for officials
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff A car is left stranded by its driver along West Railroad Avenue in Jamesburg July 17.

While the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has left an indelible mark on 2005, area municipalities are hoping their own flooding woes are behind them as the new year approaches.

During a heavy rain storm July 17, eight to 10 inches of rain fell in southern Middlesex County within a few hours. In the wake of that storm, seven towns were hit with flash flooding that caused $10 million in damage. Nearly half of that damage occurred in Jamesburg alone, and some businesses downtown were never able to recover.

The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders responded by assembling what became known as the South Central Middlesex County Flood Control Commission to investigate the causes of the flooding and help the area prepare for future storms.

Nearly six months after the flood, Jamesburg Mayor Anthony LaMantia said most of the superficial damage has been cleared, and all the borough’s roadways and most of the shops have reopened.

The borough has also received grant money from the state to fix storm sewer drains in town.

“Our systems are being repaired, the county improved one of theirs, and we’re working on hopefully getting some other ones upgraded,” LaMantia said.

The state Department of Transportation has also assisted Helmetta, awarding more than $400,000 in grants.

Helmetta Mayor Nancy Martin said three drainage projects along Railroad Avenue in that town have been completed or are under way.

One of the causes of the flooding in the area was the overflow of the Cranberry Bogs, which many officials believe was overwhelmed with stormwater because of increased development in the surrounding area.

“The borough intends to continue to be proactive, and our public works department has been working closely with the county parks department, monitoring the water flow from the Cranberry Bogs into the Saw Mill Brook,” Martin said.

She added that officials are concerned with the rate of development that has continued unchecked in the area, and that, as the borough’s representatives on the flood commission, she and Public Works Director Darren Doran intend to address those concerns at the next meeting of the commission, in January.

Spotswood Mayor Barry Zagnit echoed those concerns, and said that the commission will help the borough investigate the source of the water that flows into the borough during such storms.

Zagnit and recently elected Councilman Thomas Barlow will represent the town on the commission. Borough Business Administrator Ron Fasanello and resident William Fitzgerald will be their respective alternates.

Zagnit said the borough did not suffer any lasting damage to its roads and sewers, and everything was up and running within hours after the flood waters receded.

He said officials conducted a thorough examination of the municipal drainage system and, apart from minor maintenance issues, it was working at full strength, and was simply overwhelmed by rainfall that exceeded 100-year-storm standards.

“With the volume of water that came down in the short time that it came down, nobody feels that any stormwater system would be able to carry that amount of water away,” Zagnit said. “We now need to look at the context of what’s coming into town from outside sources.”

Despite the damages incurred, the area was denied financial aid from such programs as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That, LaMantia said, was the most disappointing part of the cleanup process.

Council President Otto Kostbar and Councilman Joseph Jennings will represent Jamesburg on the flood commission, with LaMantia and engineer Alan Dittenhofer serving as alternates. Jennings is expected to chair the commission in 2006.

While residents had lauded the efforts of borough officials in Jamesburg after the flood, LaMantia said it was the residents who wasted no time in helping each other.

“All the organizations, and the actual residents themselves, everybody chipped in and helped everybody,” LaMantia said. “It was heartwarming.”

But LaMantia said that despite the efforts of the state, county and borough to improve and reinforce local drainage systems, there just isn’t a way for the town to absorb the amount of water that fell on July 17.

“You’re prepared as much as you can be, but until it happens, you really don’t know how it’s going to come out, because every time it’s something different,” LaMantia said.

That said, local police, fire and rescue personnel have proved their capabilities even in a disaster of that magnitude, he noted.

“I’m confident in all our emergency services if it ever happens again,” LaMantia said. “Hopefully, it will never happen again.”