Drenched Northeast Continues to Weather the Storm

In some parts of the northeast only a few weeks ago, some folks were begging for rain as their lawns turned brown from a hot and humid summer. No more.

Once again on Thursday, northeastern states were soaked with heavy rains and more flooding headaches. Roads flooded out, flights were delayed, and many people found pumping out their basements the item of the day.

Flood warnings were issued in parts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and a number of New Jersey communities issued voluntary evacuations.

Northern New Jersey has been soaked with as much as 4.5 inches of rain in 48 hours, and the National Weather Service said that some areas of the state could get as much as 2 inches more by Friday.

The storm was following a weekend soaking that dumped some 5 inches of rain across the state and as much as 10 inches in other spots.

Water swamped dozens of highways and roads, and incoming flights at two of New York area’s three major airports had delays of more than an hour.

In northeastern New Jersey, the Ramapo River was already past the major flood stage of 13 feet at Pompton Lakes and was likely to reach 16 feet by early tomorrow. The Passaic River also was nearing major flood stage.

Since the rain began last weeend, at least three people died in floodwater in New Hampshire and four others are unaccounted for. The National Weather Service canceled a flood watch for the Granite State but said the already soaked area may see 3 to 6 inches of rain in the next few days.

In Alstead, New Hampshire, at least a dozen homes were washed away and dozens more were damaged heavily. Authorities reported damage would reach the tens of millions of dollars.