Throughout the months of January and December, there have been numerous occurrences of extreme weather events, the most recent being the rain and wind storm that occurred during early January. This rainstorm impacted all parts of NJ and resulted in emergency closings and various delays for numerous schools, some of them being Bogota, Emerson, and Hackensack. Paterson, a town only 15 minutes away from Glen Rock, felt the impacts the most due to its close proximity to the Passaic River.
The Passaic River crested at 9.7 feet and many parts of Paterson are still severely flooded. The intense rainfall has snowballed into numerous other issues like electricity loss and entire homes and businesses being flooded and ruined. Some residents had to be rescued from their homes via emergency services while others had to be relocated to hotels until the flooding subsided. The residents of Paterson have to go through the relentless cycle of preparing and recovering from the flooding that occurs periodically throughout the year, with many of these floods destroying vital appliances in their houses, “We lost the heat. We have no hot water … at all, ” according to Rosannis Pola of Paterson.
In response to the devastation caused by the flooding, Governor Murphy has emphasized that he is determined to find a solution to this issue, “We’re going to turn over every stone we can, whether it’s state money, county perhaps,” according to Governor Murphy.
One potential solution presented by Murphy is to allow residents who live in the areas impacted by the frequent flooding to either elevate their homes or sell their homes to the Federal Blue Acres Program. Blue Acres is an organization with a mission to help families who live in areas that are at risk of flooding, they do this by providing them with the ability to sell their homes and have the opportunity to live in a safer area.
At the moment it is unclear if the proposed initiatives to lessen the impacts of the flooding will help to resolve some of the major issues, but the conditions that the residents of Paterson are facing serve as a huge indication to many that the issues that have been resulting from the flooding are destructive and troubling. The impacts of the flooding affect all residents of NJ, not just those in Paterson. By finding a solution to this issue that is occurring in Paterson, the state will be better prepared to combat it if and when it occurs in other parts of the state.
