EDGEWATER PARK, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Thursday brought pockets of heavy rain throughout the region after heavy rain earlier in the week. Now with severe storms spinning off from Tropical Storm Debby hitting the region starting Friday, county residents who saw flood conditions earlier this week are hoping for a better outcome this time around.
Rainwater went down into the sewer with no issues Thursday afternoon, but Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, Edgewater Park got slammed with rain , and as a result, the streets of 55+ community Silver Park West Estates flooded.
“That’s the first time it ever happened that severely, said Patricia Chambers, who has lived in the development for nine years. Her home isn’t far from a large pond.
“It does fill up on flash floods like that, but never has it done that.”
She said she ended up not evacuating her home and waited it out.
“Oh no, I was blessed. No water came up to the house — even though it was 3 feet from my front door. But I’m up on a little hill, so that helped.”
Some of her neighbors weren’t so lucky.
“I guess about 11:00, emergency people rung my doorbell and told me that this was flooding and I may have to evacuate,” said Edward Hill, who lives near the area where flood water was at its deepest.
Hill says they later helped him out of his house and he had to go to a hotel for the night. He's still waiting to see just how bad the damage is.
“Never seen nothing like this,” he said.
His neighbor, Walt Nesbitt, down the street agrees. “Not in this neighborhood, no.”
Nesbitt says his house, luckily, wasn’t affected, but he and his wife had to wait for the water to go down before they could leave the property.
The pond in the development had some water pumped out, which Nesbitt hopes will help as the next rain storm approaches.
“Looking at the weather … hopefully they’ll have that pump running and hopefully things will be okay. But we’ll deal with it when we have to deal with it.”
Officials in Burlington County are monitoring waterways and the forecast and area waterways as the next round of rain approaches. They encourage residents to have an emergency kit ready to go in case they have to evacuate or lose power.
The National Weather Service recommends the following item for maximum weather readiness:
🎒 Backpack or storage tub to hold your supplies
💧 Bottled water, 1 gallon per person
🥫 Nonperishable food — and don’t forget the can opener
🍴 Cups, utensils, paper towels
🔦 Flashlight with extra batteries
📻 Battery-powered radio and NOAA weather radio
🧯 Fire Extinguisher
🏥 First aid supplies: bandages, ointment, disinfectant wipes, tissues
📚 Emergency reference materials such as a first aid book
🧻 Toilet paper and bags with ties, for personal sanitation
🧼 Personal hygiene items: deodorant, cotton swabs, feminine hygiene items, etc.
📝 Paper and pen/pencil
🃏 Cards or a game (to distract from the situation and alleviate stress)
😴 Sleeping bag or warm blanket, one for each person
👚 Seasonally appropriate change of clothes, plus jacket, hat, gloves and boots or sneakers for each person
🌂 Rain gear
🛠 Wrench or pliers
🎉 Whistle to signal for help
😷 Dust mask or cotton t-shirt, to help filter the air
🏕 Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
🗃 Important documents: ID, insurance details, banking information, wills, etc.
💵 Cash
And, if necessary:
🍼 Formula and diapers
🐕 Extra pet food
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