Fire and Rain on Dunkerhook Road

Residents who during Hurricane Irene returned to a dramatic scene. 

A trio of upturned trees lay across the road, leaving live wires splayed over the roadway like a spiderweb. The ground was littered with dead fish, killed by electrified water and left behind by a Saddle River tributary that flooded the neighborhood.

Councilman Michael Rohdieck, who lives on Dunkerhook Road, waited until 8 p.m. Sunday until the water receded enough to access his home, only to find that a tree had fallen on his house, cutting off power. The tree also blocked Dunkerhook Road, cutting residents west of Skylark Court off from Paramus Road, forcing them to drive through Saddle River County Park to leave the development.

Alan and Indira Lopez, who live on the corner of Skylark Court and Dunkerhook Road, moved to their house from Florida just 28 days ago. The Florida natives are accustomed to Category 3 and 4 storms, and thought nothing of staying home during the storm, despite a mandatory evacuation order.

Saturday night, the couple saw the transformer in front of their house catch fire, igniting a live wire that fell into the water. The wire left a molten scar across the road in front of their house, and the electrified water prevented the couple from taking more than a few steps out their front door.

Needless to say, it's been a rocky introduction to the neighborhood for Alan Lopez.

"We went through an , a hurricane and a transformer blowing up right in front of our house," he said.

Sal Petruzzella, who built three of the houses on Dunkerhook Road, said the fires from the trees falling onto Rohdieck's house looked like fireworks. Petruzzella was another Dunkerhook resident who opted to stay during the storm, not wanting to abandon his home, but he said next time he would get his family to safety.

"It was a scary scene," Petruzzella said.

Borough officials also evacuated Mill Run and Grist Trail ahead of the storm. On Monday, Laura Cullinan, of Hillsdale, and her family were cleaning out her parents' Grist Trial home.

They had gone on vacation during the storm, but water got into the basement. Starting at 9 a.m., Cullinan and her family emptied out the basement, arranging wine bottles, shelves and a bicycle on the lawn, and spraying off the dirt-covered items with a hose.

The  was also hard-hit by the rising Saddle River, with water pouring three feet deep into the church, reaching the edge of Paramus Road and submerging the entire parking lot. The Rev. Protopresbyter Anargyros Stavropoulos and a group of parishioners spent Sunday afternoon clearing water from the building, and a cleaning company arrived Monday to do more work.

The water quickly receded overnight, though, and by Monday, the parking lot was muddy, but mostly dry, and after canceling services Sunday and Monday, Stavropoulos was hopeful they would return the following week. Luckily, Stavropoulos said, the worship space itself was spared by the water.

"I was surprised this morning when I came to see the water was gone," Stavropoulos said.

Throughout town, many residents were still without power, as PSE&G maintained its estimate that between 2,001 and 5,000 people had lost service. The outages crippled the on Midland Avenue, leaving customers only able to pick up mail, and shut down traffic lights at several intersections.

On Monday, Paramus and Bergen County Police directed traffic at intersections like Oradell Road and Pascack Avenue, Farview Avenue and Midland Avenue, and Midland Avenue and Route 17.

At , which was without power Monday, owner Mike Epstein planned an outdoor boot camp workout in the gym parking lot at 6 p.m.

"It's going to be a great workout, lots of fun and something different since we are unable to work out inside the gym until they get the power back on," Epstein said.