When Main Street Flooded: Millburn Still Recovering From Storm Ida 1 Year Ago

MILLBURN, NJ — A year ago, a hurricane swirled through the Deep South, then drenched the Northeast. It had been downgraded to a tropical depression by the time it reached Millburn and nearby towns. Yet the flooding was so sudden, at least 30 New Jersey residents lost their lives in floods.

There was no loss of life in Millburn as there was in Maplewood and in other towns along rivers — but there was extensive damage to stores on Main Street and elsewhere.

Most of Sept. 1, 2021 was a quiet day, leading some to doubt the dire forecasts of several inches of rain.

But starting around 4 p.m., the storm brought more than 7 inches of rain to Union and Essex counties.

A resident posted this startling video of water rushing through downtown Millburn at night, reaching the tops of cars.

Within days, the town pulled together to clean up. A resident posted video in the Happy Millburn Facebook group helping clean up a mud-filled downtown.

"Without being asked or paid, with the day off of School. They could’ve spent it on their phones or binge watching their favorite tv shows, but NO, NOT OUR KIDS!! They frequent these businesses every day," wrote a resident.

The township also created a Flood Committee that met monthly (although there was some controversy about it).

Mayor Maggee Miggins said Wednesday, "Hurricane Ida devastated our downtown and the South Mountain section of Milllburn. This was a terrible time for the township. These are some of the measures we trust will be helpful in the future. We created a flood mitigation committee headed up by Richard Wasserman and Sanjeev Vinayak. We will be working on a drainage project down in the South Mountain area in the next month."

She added, "We have installed guardrails by the river and we have acquired an emergency rescue vehicle. We have amazing citizen volunteers who are working diligently on the flood mediation committee."

The Flood Committee will meet next on Sept. 21.

Residents and businesses have been able to apply for storm relief funding.

On Thursday, Rep. Tom Malinowski hosted a flood preparedness webinar with a FEMA representative, and later a "Congress on Your Corner" at the Bernardsville Library at 4 p.m. (Get more details of both here.)

An extensive followup report on the storm from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association this past April noted, "a swath of heavy rains with local rainfall rates near or above 3 inches per hour developed north of the center and affected a long area extending from northern West Virginia, across western Maryland, southeastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, southeastern New York...."

"Maximum storm total rainfalls in these areas include 10.10 inches at Downingtown, Pa., 10.06 inches at Manville, New Jersey ... The extreme rainfall rates and heavy rainfall caused major freshwater flooding in these areas, including deadly and damaging flash flooding and urban flooding across portions of the New York City metropolitan area and northern New Jersey."

So Where Are The Hurricanes This Summer?

Oddly, as opposed to last summer, there have been no named hurricanes so far this year, which scientists have offered theories about.

However, there were three tropical disturbances in the Atlantic on Thursday, including Tropical Storm Danielle, which is unlikely to hit the East Coast.

Experts have said that New Jersey's infrastructure was not made for extreme storms. Find out what they recommend for the future here. READ MORE: Why Is NJ Flooding Getting Worse, And What To Do?

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