Westville residents clean up after flood, share concerns about their homes

WESTVILLE, N.J. - A beautiful weekend is a nice break from the rain, but for those hard hit by recent flooding, there is much work to do. Damage remains and clean-up is far from over.

“All this stuff floated from people’s trash cans into our yard,” said Westville, New Jersey flood victim Jennifer Hill.

Mom and dad to four little ones, Jennifer and Shakeem Hill pay rent to live in Westville, New Jersey.

The home they pay rent for is now waterlogged, but drying out. They are worried about a lot of things, including mold.

“I don’t want my kids going in there. It smells. There’s still a lot of stuff that needs to be cleaned up,” Jennifer stated.

Their property on Duncan Street among many with trash bags and personal items scattered outside. The aftermath of a storm dumped several inches of rain on the borough last week in a short period of time, flooding roads, destroying the lower levels of families’ homes and cars.

“It was a lot of water. It just flooded my whole car. I don’t have a car anymore,” stated Shakeem Hill.

“Have you ever seen rain like that?” asked FOX 29’s Kelly Rule.

“Never,” Hill replied.

Something Council President Michael Ledrich says he hasn’t seen either in 40 years.

“As long as I’ve lived here, that hasn’t happened. We never have gotten that much rain,” Ledrich said.

Ledrich joined the Red Cross as they set up shop Sunday morning at the Westville Public Library. They handed out clean-up kits and helped connect people with services to help with the long road ahead.

“People are definitely affected by it, but the community does seem to be rallying around them, which is great,” Ted Smith, Regional Logistics Lead with the American Red Cross, stated.

The Hills are hoping for that support. They used their Red Cross voucher so they hope to get their home back to where it was. Right now, that’s all they have.

“I know all that stuff is replaceable, but we’re just trying to figure out what we’re doing from here,” Jennifer explained.

Westville officials say they are meeting with state leaders on Tuesday. They hope to learn whether they can get additional help for some of these residents.