Flood Waters Rise In Montclair: Cars Stuck, Nonprofit 'Wrecked'

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A heavy storm dumped several inches of rain throughout Essex County on Sunday, causing severe flash flooding across the region – including Montclair.

Rainfall totals in Essex County ranged from 2.5 inches to 4 inches over the past 24 hours, which caused havoc throughout the region. See Related: Epic Flooding Soaks Essex County, Leaves Roads Impassable (Photos/Videos)

The National Water Prediction Service said that three rivers that flow through Essex County rose above their flood stages: the Passaic River at Newark, the Third River in Bloomfield, and the Peckman River in Verona.

Several streets in Montclair were flooded on Sunday evening. According to reports on social media, flooded areas included Pine Street, Claremont Avenue, Gordonhurst Avenue, Church/South Park streets, and the area around Porter Park.

William Scheckel posted a photo taken at 7:30 p.m. from the front porch of his home on the 100-block of Pine Street (see above).

“Multiple cars are stuck between Walnut and Claremont,” Scheckel wrote. “There's one police car on site helping, but more cars keep coming. Avoid this road.”

Weather-related signal issues caused delays for NJ Transit train riders on the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines, the agency reported.

The flood waters tore through Studio Playhouse, a nonprofit theater company in Montclair, which posted a message about the damage on social media and asked the community for donations to help it recover.

“We are heartbroken to say that yesterday’s unexpected storm has wrecked us,” Studio Montclair reported. “Flood waters gushed in by quite literally breaking our garage door open, and at its worst, flood waters rose to 3 1/2 feet. Our scene shop, props storage and green room have all been affected.”

The nonprofit continued:

“We are once again humbly asking for donations. We know we’ve been here before, and with your generous donations we’ve made so many improvements to the playhouse. This flooding was bad, but it could have been so much worse. With your past donations we’ve been able to put industrial sinks, metal shelving, and water-proof wall materials, all of which did survived this incident. We’ve also installed sensors for water, but the power outage meant that those were off-line for an extended time, which unexpectedly affected us. We continue to work on upgrades, but the reality is that our special theatre is a 120-year-old historic building, and she still needs our help.”

LOCAL FORECAST

The bad news? Montclair may not be in the clear yet.

According to the NWS, a thunderstorm is possible on Monday evening, with flash flooding and damaging wind gusts possible. Here is the local forecast for Montclair this week.

Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. West wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a slight chance of showers between 8pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. North wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind around 8 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 77.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 81.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62.

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