Flooding In

FEMA has approved disaster relief for six New Jersey counties affected by the Nor'easter. Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Burlington, Somerset and Union counties were included on the list but Morris County was not, despite the fact that several municipalities were hard hit by the storm that dumped nearly 8 inches of rain across the area in less than 24 hours.

President Bush Thursday declared six counties in New Jersey ravaged by flooding federal disaster areas. The declaration makes federal funding available for individual property owners in Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Burlington, Somerset and Union counties.

Morris County, which includes two towns hard-hit by the 0flood, Pequannock and Lincoln Park, was not included in the federal disaster declaration.

Bush also signed off on a declaration that will enable New Jersey to collect federal money for hazardous waste cleanup caused by the flood. The president did not act on a request by municipalities for federal aid to help defray their cleanup costs because all damage assessments are not complete.

Disaster declarations for New York were made on Tuesday.

FEMA provides links to more information for individuals and businesses, including how to apply and what to expect.

This storm is also responsible for yet another aborted attempt to buy a house in Bergen County. We had an agreement to buy a house in place, but the storm showed that the house had serious shortcomings - water infiltration in the basement and improper sump pump operation, and related problems were too numerous to mention. So, we'll consider this storm to be our blessing in disguise because we wouldn't want to be stuck with a headache and heartache of having another storm come through and damage the property. Another property on which we had an offer was also located quite close to the Passaic River and other properties in the area were flooded as a result of the river overflowing its banks.

Unfortunately, there are many people in the area who are having to deal with the damage wrought by the storm. Many are still pumping out their basements because the water table is still quite high and have to trash everything in their basements because of water damage. In one example, a duplex in Ridgewood that was recently built from the ground up, saw its basement completely flooded and the contents destroyed. It makes you wonder what kind of waterproofing job was done that it could fail so horribly while other properties in the same block weren't nearly as badly affected - and all are much older.

Waterproofers and contractors are going to be quite busy with calls to assess the damage and implement fixes - whether they're french drains, sump pumps, or the installation of new waterproofing to exterior walls of foundations.

UPDATE 4/27/2007:
Three more New Jersey counties have been added to the list of counties declared as disaster areas that will receive federal assistance: Mercer, Middlesex, and Morris.