Posted on Tue, Aug. 30, 2011
The building had six feet of water in the basement, thanks to floods from Hurricane Irene, and had been deemed uninhabitable by township inspectors.
"This was supposed to be my future. Now we won't have anything," Duclos said of the investment rental property.
Irene will not soon be forgotten by thousands of New Jersey residents displaced and discomforted by Irene. On Tuesday, many remained without power and had to improvise a route to work because of washed-out roads, discontinued rail service, and reduced bus schedules.
Communities from Vineland and Millville on the Maurice River in South Jersey, to Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, were evacuated Monday as streams and rivers rose.
About 110 people near Willow Grove Lake in Vineland were taken to a local shelter after area roads flooded, state police said. In Mount Holly, where the municipal building remained inundated, police had to relocate their operations.
New Jersey is "not out of the woods yet," Gov. Christie warned at a news conference Monday. Water levels had matched or set records at nine river locations, he said.
At least six deaths in New Jersey had been blamed on Irene, and about half a million customers remained without electricity late Monday afternoon, as an army of utility repair crews worked to restore power.
The hurricane also has affected farmers. About 30 percent to 40 percent of the late peach crop was lost, said Jerry Frecon, a Gloucester County agricultural agent, adding that ground crops such as squash and pumpkins will have to be monitored for rot.
But signs of better times had begun to show up. Jersey Shore resort communities - which were not hit as hard as officials had expected - were slowly coming back after the weekend's mandatory evacuation. All 11 of Atlantic City's casinos resumed operation, and the beaches reopened.
Christie, who warned tourists Friday to "get the hell off the beach," invited them back Monday. He visited Atlantic City and Lake Como in Monmouth County to promote the Shore during the tourism industry's all-important pre-Labor Day week.
There could be vacancies, so "you'll probably get a good price," he quipped.
Some erosion was reported along the 127-mile coastline, particularly on portions of Long Beach Island. But Christie and Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Martin, who flew up and down the coast Sunday to look for damage, were encouraged. Christie said a recent beach-replenishment project had helped save lives and homes.
"This doesn't happen by accident," he said. "Part of it's good fortune from the way the storm weakened a little bit before it came on shore, but part of it is because these guys have made investments. . . . The dunes did their jobs. They protected the beach."
Across the state, though, normal will take a while.
More than 300 highway locations were covered with floodwaters or obstructed by debris, the New Jersey Department of Transportation reported Monday.
Southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway south of Exit 98 at Interstate 195 reopened, though detours remained between Exits 98 and 91. Eastbound lanes of the Atlantic City Expressway at Pleasantville were to reopen Monday afternoon.
The Route 322 bridge over Mullica Pond in Mullica Hill remained impassable as it awaited a state inspection.
Traffic backed up in Mount Holly because of closures affecting Rancocas Road from the Mount Holly Bypass. The Burlington County Courthouse will remain closed Tuesday because of flooding. The Burlington County government building stayed open, though the parking lots across the street were a lake.
Public transportation across the state was heavily affected.
Assunpink Creek, at a record level, submerged train tracks at the Trenton train station that are used by Amtrak and commuter trains. The situation forced suspension of much of the Northeast Corridor's rail service north of Philadelphia, as Amtrak, NJ Transit and SEPTA trains were unable to operate.
Amtrak service between Philadelphia and Boston was halted, and NJ Transit trains operated only on the Atlantic City Line. Seventeen SEPTA railcars were stranded at the Trenton station, where waters from the overflowing Assunpink lapped over the tracks.
Amtrak's Acela service from Boston to New York will resume Tuesday, the railroad said Monday afternoon. But it was unclear when service could be restored between Philadelphia and New York. Maintenance crews first must inspect the tracks, rail bed, and power lines.
The River Line light-rail service was operating between Trenton and Camden, but buses replaced trains between Camden's Walter Rand Transportation Center and the waterfront Susquehanna Bank entertainment center because of flooding.
"Our goal is to resume service as quickly and safely as possible," said James Weinstein, New Jersey Transit's executive director. "However, customers should not expect a normal weekday [Monday] for transit services as crews continue to assess damage around the state, particularly on the railroad."
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