NJ flooding: Basements, yards overcome with floodwater in 'hardest hit town' of Delran
DELRAN, N.J. - One South Jersey town appeared to take the brunt of Tuesday's storm as floodwaters covered neighborhoods, eventually surging into several homes.
A downpour of torrential rain pummeled the entire Delaware Valley for several hours.
Power outages, flooding and road closures took their toll on the entire state of New Jersey, as towns from north to south felt the storm's damaging effects.
However, officials in Burlington County say that Delran was the "hardest hit town" in the area.
In advance of Friday’s storm, Burlington County Office of Emergency Management says staging equipment and personnel on standby in case a larger shelter needs to be opened.
They estimate at least 50 homes were impacted and with the high water levels, some residents had to be rescued as floodwaters filled yards and basements with the Rancocas Creek flowing just feet away.
The creek is a tributary of the Delaware River, which reached a record-breaking crest on Tuesday and is expected to rise again Wednesday.
Officials went door to door Wednesday afternoon to advise residents to evacuate because of the anticipated rise in water levels. However, some residents chose to stay home and take care of the damage at hand.
FOX 29’s Shaynah Ferreria spoke to volunteer firefighter and Delran resident James Otis as he described the call he received from his wife while he was out on the job during the height of Tuesday's storm.
"When she got me on the phone I could hear the stress in her voice and I knew something wasn’t good," said Otis. "The amount of water, the quickness with how it came up it was like a flash flood."
The flash flood has left many residents in Delran township with lots of damage to their property.
Otis lives on Alden Avenue just steps away from Rancocas Creek and he says ‘Superstorm Sandy’ pales in comparison to what he saw overnight.
"Sandy was bad, but this was worse," he said. "A single story house I had six inches of water in my house, every floor has to be replaced and every drywall up to a foot has to be replaced."
After the rain stopped, Otis’ backyard was completely covered with almost two feet of water.
Over on River Drive, Melanie Schroeder lives directly across from the Rancocas Creek and she told FOX 29 the flooding filled her crawl space.
"I opened the door to my bedroom to come into the hallway and then the front door and this was full of water here right to my front door," said Schroeder. "I went to the back and I opened the door and that was all full of water too."
"My car got flooded even parked around the corner in the middle of the road…I’ve lived here seven years and it has never gotten this bad," she added.
Storm unleashed torrential rain, wind across South Jersey leading to waterlogged roadways
South Jersey is feeling the effects of a storm system as rain pushes into shore communities and across the state, closing numerous roadways, and causing power outages.
Neighbors also told FOX 29 that some foundations may have been compromised in the aftermath.
No injuries were reported, but county officials did say that water rescues were required at three homes in Delran.
Flood warnings remain in effect for Burlington County until 4 p.m. Wednesday.