Ida Leaves Behind Close to 7 Inches Of Rain In Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — Exceeding the expectations of the initial predictions, the remnants of Ida left her wrath on Chatham, with nearly seven inches of rain and flooding in the aftermath.

The floods even delayed the start of school in the Chathams, with a two-hour delay on Thursday morning, with pre-K and morning kindergarten classes canceled.

As skies started to clear on Thursday morning, the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection’s Water Monitoring and Standards measured 6.74 inches of rain over 48 hours at 7 a.m. The majority of the water fell within 24 hours, with the Passaic River station near Chatham registering 6.57 inches.

The U.S. Geological Survey clocked in the river’s gage height at 6.63 feet as of 8:15 a.m. Thursday, with any total over six feet in excess of flood levels.

Initially expecting the river to reach “Minor Flood Stage” and up to 6.7 feet on Thursday, though the Passaic was slightly under that total on Thursday morning, the National Weather Service bumped their forecast up to “Moderate Flooding.”

The Flood Stage is at six feet, with the National Weather Service hydrograph in sync with the USGS total of 6.63 feet. The Weather Service predicts on the map that the river may rise in excess of eight feet, to 8.2 feet - or a “Moderate Flooding” level, before it starts to descend to its Minor Flooding phase, with its road flooding predictions here.

According to National Weather Service records, the river’s most recent crest prior to this was 6.46 feet on May 1, 2014, which has now been exceeded. The Passaic River’s most historic crest registered at Chatham was on Aug. 2, 1973, when at this location, it measured 9.36 feet.

To view a current storm summary time lapse of the Passaic River near Chatham, click here.

On Thursday morning, Chatham Township Police Department reported that the Central Avenue Bridge and Bridge Avenue off of River Road were both flooded and closed.

Overnight into Thursday, Chatham personnel responded to the floods, the Borough posting an update at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday that the Department of Public Works, Police Department and Fire Department - including more called in to work - were working on flooding issues. At that time, residents were urged to stay inside and call 911 if they had an emergency.

“The stormwater system is beyond capacity and flooding is likely to continue until the rain subsides,” Chatham Borough stated in its update.

Chatham Township Police reported late Wednesday that a portion of Southern Boulevard was closed because of flooding and people should not drive through the flooded road.

Chatham Township reported that those in the township without access to sump pumps, who have more than one or two inches of water, if they are east of Noe Avenue can contact Chatham Township's Fire Department for help at 973-635-2828 or west of there, Green Village Fire Department at 973-377-7073.

As of Thursday morning, only a handful of Chatham residents in the township and borough experienced power outages.

For residents or businesses that need to report a power outage or hazardous situations because of this storm, they can contact JCP&L at 1-888-544-4877 (1-888-LIGHTSS) or click here.

For JCP&L's current outage details, click here.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:10 p.m., Sept. 2.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.