Sunday's rain flooded Paterson, Wayne and Paramus, closed highways across Bergen County and cut power and transit in Camden. It was the fifth flood since July 28 in a record year for warnings. One mitigation bill sits in committee while federal money still arrives for storms long past.
The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Warning for Morris County at 5:54 Sunday morning and for south-central Bergen, Essex, Hudson and eastern Passaic counties at 6:35 a.m. By mid-morning the rain had closed state highways across the region, stranded drivers in Wayne and forced rescues in Paterson.
The weather service warned of rain falling at rates up to two inches per hour in the heaviest bands, with broader rates of one to two inches, according to the weather service's Mount Holly office and News 12 New Jersey. By mid-afternoon, the weather service measured 4.32 inches near Florham Park in Morris County and 2.96 inches in Camden. A statewide Flood Watch ran until noon, with conditions improving through the afternoon and mostly sunny skies expected Monday, highs in the 70s.
In Paterson, firefighters rescued 15 people amid the morning's rain, Mayor Andre Sayegh told News 12. On Facebook, Sayegh wrote that "Older cities like Paterson are especially vulnerable to flooding, which is why we've made long-overdue infrastructure improvements a priority," citing sewer separation work and a forthcoming grant-funded Chief Resiliency Officer hire. Video from the city showed water up to the windows of vehicles on 11th Avenue, and the flooding delayed the annual Dominican Parade by an hour, pushing the start to 1 p.m., according to ABC7.
In Wayne, Riverview Drive flooded in several spots and water at the Edison Drive intersection ran deep enough to strand vehicles, according to Wayne Fire Company #4 and ABC7. In Paramus, Mayor Chris DiPiazza listed a dozen flooded locations across the borough, including Homestead Road, McKinley Boulevard at Berry and Marion streets, Spring Valley Avenue, the Village Circle Fitness and Crunch Fitness parking lots and Kalisa Way, and wrote that police were blocking the affected blocks and answering "numerous 9-1-1 calls." Daily Voice also reported flooding on Kalisa Way and Columbia Terrace, and rescuers in Fair Lawn boating two people off a vehicle roof on McBride Avenue.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation logged closures on Routes 17, 20, 46 and 208 across Bergen and Passaic counties through the morning, with flooding on Interstate 80 in Totowa and spillover closures in Morris, Warren and Middlesex counties, according to Daily Voice. The same outlet reported areas of Saddle Brook and Norwood "almost completely underwater."
In Camden County, NJ Transit suspended River Line service in both directions between the Walter Rand Transportation Center and the Waterfront Entertainment Center because of flooding, according to CBS Philadelphia, and more than 2,000 PSE&G customers were without power as of 8:10 a.m., per NJ.com's outage tracker, with thousands more out statewide.
Governor Mikie Sherrill told residents Sunday morning to "Monitor your local forecast, pay attention to emergency alerts, and use extra caution on the roads. Never attempt to drive through flooded roadways. Stay safe, New Jersey." No State of Emergency had been declared as of Sunday afternoon.
Sunday was the fifth flood event to hit New Jersey since July 28. On July 28, rescuers pulled 20 people from flooded Paterson streets; manhole covers blew, a woman in her wheelchair floated into the street, and 21st Avenue buckled at Plum Street, according to Fox5 New York, News 12 New Jersey and PIX11 coverage of the July 28 flooding. On Aug. 3, statewide flooding brought water rescues and more than 8,800 outages, with 4.45 inches recorded in Cinnaminson, per NJ.com. On Aug. 27, crews in Elizabeth performed more than 100 rescues and highway closures hit statewide, per CBS New York and NJ.com. On Sept. 10 and 11, Tri-State downpours suspended NJ Transit's Morris & Essex, Gladstone and Montclair-Boonton lines overnight, per NJ Transit service alerts and ABC7. Federal and state records back the count: the weather service's Mount Holly office has issued "a record 147 flood warnings this year, nearly triple the annual average," according to an Inquirer analysis, and the New Jersey State Climate Office recorded two straight months of above-average precipitation statewide in July and August, the first such stretch since spring 2024.
The Passaic River stayed below flood stage Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey gauge at Little Falls read 4.94 feet at 12:30 p.m. and 4.84 feet an hour later, against a 7-foot minor flood stage. The city is one of eight Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission municipalities with combined sewer systems, where stormwater and sewage share pipes and overflows are possible under rainfall load, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the commission. By early afternoon, the city had not confirmed whether its outfalls activated.
Sayegh told Fox5 the July storm "was so fierce, it actually pushed her off her wheelchair..." Speaking to News 12 the next day, he said: "River Street wasn't an issue because we're actually doing repairs on the sewer, and that to me is the pain point. We really need to focus on infrastructure improvement. I believe climate change is legitimate. We just have to respond." He told PIX11 the city's sewer system "is over 100 years old... cannot move water away fast enough."
Eight months before Sunday's rain, Assemblywoman Carmen Morales (D, 34th District) introduced A2621 to create a Municipal Flood Management Assistance Program in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, run in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, funding post-storm mitigation, flood risk assessments, structural and non-structural solutions, GIS flood mapping and emergency protocols, with priority for overburdened communities. The bill has no co-sponsors and no posted hearing. Five flood events have hit the state since its introduction. In March 2025, Morales called flooding "both costly for taxpayers and a significant financial strain on municipalities" at the launch of a regional flood mitigation committee that brought together the mayors of Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Belleville, Nutley, Orange, East Orange and Montclair. In October 2025 she announced a $500,000 stormwater award for Glen Ridge, saying "Storms don't discriminate. It doesn't matter where you live or what zip code you come from," in a release that named then-Rep. Mikie Sherrill. News 12 New Jersey reported Saturday on the "Make Polluters Pay" act, a separate bill aimed at reducing flooding statewide. The rain arrived Sunday morning.
Federal money announced in January targets older storms. U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-N.J.) announced about $16.6 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding in January for three North Jersey projects: the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, the Bergen County Utilities Authority and the City of Passaic. The city share covers Ida-related repairs at McDonald's Brook, the October 2021 flood site where Nidhi and Ayush Rana drowned. "That these storms happened years ago and rebuilding still continues show the lasting impacts and scars," Pou said in her release. "As flooding becomes more frequent and severe, improving water infrastructure is no longer optional – it is essential."
On Aug. 26, Pou and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) joined Passaic County Commissioners Orlando Cruz and Nick Veliky to announce $1.2 million in fiscal 2026 money for River Street in Paterson at the Great Falls. "As North Jersey continues to be hit with life-threatening storms and increasingly dangerous floods, this $1.2 million investment will help the Paterson community make needed repairs to River Street," Kim said. Sayegh told News 12 on Sunday evening: "In fact, when it rained, River Street was more river than street. And now we are repairing the sewer, realigning the sewer and we're not having flooding issues there. So that type of investment needs to be made across the board." The appropriation covers one street; PIX11 reported July floodwater trapping vehicles on 20th Avenue between Summer and Beech while River Street sat under reconstruction.
The DEP ran a $20 million "Ready to Be Resilient" program in 2024 with one-time ARPA funds. A $150 million HUD-funded stormwater project covering Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, Teterboro and South Hackensack is in design, per the DEP's flood information page. On April 27, the DEP added the Lower Passaic region to Resilient NJ, covering Montclair, Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, Glen Ridge, West Orange, Orange and East Orange with $31 million in implementation awards, and notifications for the next regions are due this month.
New Jersey adopted its REAL rules on Jan. 20, the final day of the Murphy administration, and the Sherrill administration formally proposed a one-year delay June 1. Sherrill said the extension gives the state time to "get this right," per the DEP's May 29 release. State Senate President Nicholas Scutari said the rules "could have foisted costs onto homeowners making repairs," and the delay drew opposition from environmental groups: Environment New Jersey director Doug O'Malley said it hands developers "another year of using antiquated data," per NJ Monitor. The delayed package is largely tidal; the inland flood hazard and stormwater amendments date to 2023, per the DEP.
The DEP expects action on the delayed rules late this summer; a closed stakeholder workgroup will meet through early fall, per GT Law. A2621 awaits its first hearing.
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