'This Is Nuts': Waist-High Floodwaters Soak Runners In Bergen County Half-Marathon

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Heavy rain brought flash floods to Bergen County on Sunday morning, requiring runners in a half-marathon to wade through waist-deep water.

"Bro, this is nuts," said Zac Clark in a video as he ran the Racefaster Half-Marathon in Paramus. Clark had been a contestant on TV's "The Bachelorette" in 2020.

In Paramus, nearly 5 inches of rain fell — the most of any town in Bergen County, according to the National Weather Service.

Runners responded to Clark by questioning whether the race, which began at 8 a.m., should have been canceled.

"Just finished this, and jokes and perseverance aside, the organizers 100 percent needed to call this race," wrote a runner on social media.

"Ridiculous that it wasn't cancelled," wrote Bill Gahwyler, a running coach, in response to Clark's video.

Patch reached out to the Racefaster Half-Marathon to see why the race wasn't postponed, and whether it will be run again.

Meanwhile, portions of Routes 17 and 208 were flooded Sunday. By Monday morning, they had reopened.

A photo from Fair Lawn showed a woman waiting to be rescued, atop her car. (More of Boyd Loving's photos can be found here.)

The storm was just the latest this summer to cause flooding on North Jersey roads (see prior reports here).

Rain Totals, By Town

The National Weather Service gave these rain totals for Sunday morning, in inches:

• Paramus 4.92
• Emerson 3.84
• River Edge 3.43
• Lodi 3.04
• Cresskill 2.89
• New Milford 2.85
• Tenafly 2.46
• Bergenfield 2.02
• Oakland 1.77
• Bogota 1.71
• Oakland 1.54
• Teterboro Airport 1.44
• North Arlington 1.4
• Mahwah 1.26
• Hasbrouck Heights 1.06
• Leonia 0.97

Use the below links for the most up to date forecast.

Local Links To Track Storms

• Keep an eye on the radar here.
  
• Check out the Accuweather Minutecast here.
• See a current map of all watches and warnings in New Jersey here.
  
• The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) keeps us informed about larger weather events. Follow them here.

Updated NWS forecasts, watches, and warnings in each county:

• Bergen County here
• Essex County here
• Hudson County here

What about the rivers? This NWS map of the United States will show the potential for river flooding.