Passaic County Homes, Businesses Struggle To Dig Out After Storm

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — Dominick Sponeli doesn't know what he is going to do.

Sponeli is one of dozens of Little Falls residents whose homes were flooded this week after 5 inches of rain fell and the Peckman River backed up into their neighborhood. (See related: Bergen, Passaic Towns Suffer Millions in Flood Damage)

"I'm beside myself," said Sponeli, a disabled veteran and an HVAC mechanic. "I've never seen it like this. When Superstorm Sandy hit the water came up to my truck, but never in the house."

Sponeli lost thousands of dollars in work equipment and personal possessions. He has lived in the neighborhood since 2001 and doesn't have flood insurance.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Sponeli said. "I'm devastated. I lost everything. Everything is gone."

Sponeli and his neighbors, many of whom he said also do not have flood insurance, were cleaning out their homes out Wednesday in the aftermath of the worst rain to hit the area since Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

Businesses on Route 46 East near the Peckman River were flooded out. Debris from The Vitamin Shoppe was being thrown into a dumpster. There was debris in the Sonic drive-thru parking lot and the Jeep dealership.

More than 40 vehicles from the dealership were washed away into the Peckman River and dammed up the water, which residents and officials said may have made the flooding worse.

"Cars were being thrown around like toy blocks," said Governor Phil Murphy.

Woodland Park Mayor Keith Kazmark said Tuesday he believes the vehicles made the flooding worse.

Sponeli said he wants someone held accountable for the flooding.

"The water should not have come up five or six feet high," Sponeli said. "Whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves."

Police were on guard in Sponeli's neighborhood, keeping watch for looters and blocking off roads to anyone except residents and those cleaning up the area.

Little Falls suffered an estimated $4.9 million in residential losses. Woodland Park suffered between an estimated $3.2 and $3.3 million in residential and municipal losses. (See related: Homes Uninhabitable, Belongings Litter Streets Following Flood)

Residents in at least 20 Little Falls homes were displaced and another seven in homes with damaged foundations could still have to leave, Mayor James Damiano previously said.

Little Falls Municipal Department of Public Works employees and outside contractors have been working to remove all of the downed trees from the Peckman River, but there is a lot more work to be done.

In Woodland Park, 210 homes were affected and 75 businesses on Lackawanna Avenue, including several at 86 Lackawanna Ave.

The Boys & Girls Club and senior center received 13 inches of water and the municipal athletic fields need to be treated before they can be used, Kazmark said.

Dogs were rescued from rising water and Little Falls residents lost their homes and possessions following flash floods Sunday and Monday.

Murphy declared a state of emergency Tuesday in Bergen, Passaic, and three other counties heavily impacted by flooding.

And more flooding could hit North Jersey in the coming days, Murphy said.

"We're not out of the woods," the governor said. "We're still in a lousy weather pattern here that experts think is going to go on for a number of more days at least until the weekend."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photos:

Dominick Sponeli stands near a pile of ruined possessions he cleared out of his Little Falls house Tuesday following the worst flooding to hit the area since Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

Debris lining McBride Avenue, Ryle Avenue, Harrison Street, and Jackson Street in Little Falls.

(Photos by Daniel Hubbard, Patch staff)