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| Photo
Caption: Flood waters from the Delaware River
cross over Route 29 in Trenton on April 4,
2005 after a major storm went through the area. |
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Following a major rainstorm in the last days of March 2005 and another between Friday, April 1 and Sunday, April 3, 2005, the Delaware River overflowed its banks, flooding an estimated 3,500 homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 5,500 people. In response, Acting Governor Richard J. Codey announced the formation of a Flood Mitigation Task Force to study and implement measures to reduce future impacts of flooding in New Jersey Communities. On August 22, 2006, Governor Jon Corzine released the final report of the Flood Mitigation Task Force and proposed draft rules in response to Task Force recommendations and chronic flooding.
New Jersey faced severe flooding again this year. On April 16, 2007, Acting Governor Richard J. Codey declared a state of emergency after a Nor’easter struck New Jersey bringing record amounts of rainfall and high winds causing river and tidal flooding and coastal beach erosion. Heavy rains began to fall across New Jersey during the early morning hours on Sunday, April 15th, 2007. Showers continued throughout the day on Monday and into Tuesday. This resulted in flood peaks that were the highest ever recorded at ten USGS gaging stations in the Hackensack, Hudson, Raritan, Mullica and lower Delaware River basins. Three dams failed as a result of the widespread flooding. The results of this storm forced the evacuation of 3,022 people, significant power losses, closure of 70 segments of highways across the state and more than 14,000 homes were affected.
At the request of the Acting Governor, a presidential disaster declaration was made on April 26, 2007. Federal public assistance was made available to local governments in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties. Federal funding was made available to individuals in the designated counties of Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Union.
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