NJ flood waters slowly subside, power restoration nearly done

🌧️Some of the rivers began to recede Wednesday rose again Thursday

🌧️No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, according to Gov. Phil Murphy

🌧️Most power should be restored by Thursday night or Friday morning

Utility crews continue working on power restoration and roads reopen as towns keep a weary eye on some still rising rivers.

The Pompton River at Pompton Plains crested Wednesday at 20.38 feet and began to recede but began to rise again Thursday morning to 18.42 feet. Flood stage on the river is 16 feet. The Passaic River in Little Falls rose again Thursday morning hitting 9.7 feet, surpassing the previous high of 9 feet on Wednesday.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said numerous Flood Warnings remain in effect for rivers, streams, and creeks in North Jersey as runoff from rainwater and snowmelt is still working through the watersheds.

"Many waterways are still cresting above moderate to major flood stage. I am especially watching the Passaic River system in North Jersey, which has not quite crested yet," Zarrow said.

Canoeing in the parking lot

Video posted on Instagram showed a canoe being rowed around the parking lot of the Stop & Shop in Pompton Plains on Route 23 which the Pompton River runs behind.

Pequannock Mayor Ryan Herd on his Facebook page said he spoke with Gov. Phil Murphy's Disaster Recovery Office about funds available for the township for recovery from flooding.  He was also appreciative of the efforts of the township's police, fire and public works for being the "backbone of the township's resilience and spirit."

Canoeing in the parking lot

Murphy during his Ask Governor Murphy program on WNYC/WHYY/WBGO Wednesday evening said after seeing flooding in the Saddle River in Lodi and watching a large container float down the river that there have been no deaths as a result of the storm.

The river was well below flood stage of 5.5 feet at 3.28 feet Thursday morning. It was double the flood stage Wednesday morning.

Power restored by Friday

JCP&L expects to have nearly all customers in northern New Jersey restored by 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon and in the Flemington area and other remaining area in Monmouth County by 11:30 p.m.

"1,600 outages are the original event on Tuesday night and about 1,400 were new outages that came in with yesterday’s winds," JCP&L spokesman Christopher Hoenig said.

The utility is offering free water and ice at a number of stores in its service area. Vouchers can be obtained at the customer service desk.

PSE&G is down to less than 200 customers still without power because of the storm.

"We are mobilizing crews and using all of our available resources to get the majority of those last few customers back by this afternoon. There are a few restoration jobs that may last until Thursday evening because the restoration work is very extensive such as resetting multiple poles etc," spokeswoman Rebecca Mazzarella said.

Atlantic City Electric, with over 4,400 customers still without power Thursday morning expects to have all customers restored by 11 p.m. Friday.

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