Disaster averted due to community effort
Rising waters nearly kept Milltown powerless for weeks
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

SCOTT FRIEDMAN Milltown resident Gary Walters and son Garrett film the rising waters behind the Milltown post office during Sunday's nor'easter. Washington Avenue and North Main Street were inundated with water from the overflowing Lawrence Brook. Residents were without power through Monday morning.

As the rapidly rising waters threatened to wreak havoc Sunday night, Milltown officials banded together to avert a major disaster.

The nor'easter posed a serious problem for Milltowners as water levels from the Mill Pond and Lawrence Brook rose to the point of potentially causing major damage to the town's electrical substation.

"In all the years I've lived in Milltown, I've never seen the water come up as fast as it did," said Bill Deinzer, councilman and chairman of the utilities department. "We really dodged a major bullet the other night."

As the flooding worsened, the entire Borough Council, along with the borough clerk, gathered between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., filling sandbags in order to thwart the impending disaster. They joined the town's police, fire and emergency workers, along with public works and utilities officials.

SCOTT FRIEDMAN Water from the Lawrence Brook rose to meet the railroad bridge above it Sunday in Milltown.

"Everybody was on the front line," said Mayor Gloria Bradford, who was also on hand. "It was a tremendous outpouring of cooperation. If you never believe in a town, you can believe in a town when there's an emergency."

The town also received help from CME, the borough's engineering firm, PSE&G and the county roads department, Deinzer said. He made special mention of David Renda, the county's general supervisor of roads, for his role in the work.

"He was tremendous in helping us," Deinzer said.

If the water, which flooded North Main Street and Washington Avenue, had made it into the substation, Deinzer said, it could have caused everything from electrical shorts to a full-blown fire. Shutting off power in the town became necessary when it looked as if the flooding would reach the electrical facility.

If the power station was not shut down temporarily, Deinzer said, damage to it would have caused electricity to be out throughout town for about three weeks, and it would have cost $2 million to repair.

Borough officials prepared for the worst by making arrangements for generators to be mobilized by Monday morning to keep the town up and running, Deinzer said.

The saving grace came around 1 a.m., when the rain slowed, allowing the water level in the lake to go down and the flooding to recede. Around 4 a.m., when the downpour resumed, the town was able to withstand it because of the earlier lull, Deinzer said.

Power, which was shut off shortly after 9 p.m., was restored by noon on Monday.

Although damage to the substation was averted, other borough equipment and property that could not be secured in time was struck by the storm. The back wall of the borough garage, where municipal trucks and other equipment are stored, was severely damaged. Some equipment, including telephone poles, was damaged or washed away in the flood, but some of it was recovered from the lake by workers who went out on a boat Tuesday.

"It's just a lot of cleanup at this point," Deinzer said.

Riva Avenue and Brook Drive were also flooded, he noted, and the borough post office took on water.

The borough is sending photographs of the damage to the state, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in order to obtain aid, Deinzer said.

Bradford said she received calls from residents after the storm, asking that their names be put on a contact list of volunteers for when another emergency arises. Both she and Deinzer expressed gratitude toward all who helped, and were impressed by the level of support shown.

"It was such a team effort," Bradford said. "I was in awe of it. I'm proud to be mayor of this town."