Road Closures, Downed Trees After Stormy Weekend In Passaic County

WAYNE, NJ —A crash caused a major road to close in Wayne Sunday, after a driver hit a pole and live electrical wires fell onto the roadway.

Several lanes of U.S. 23 remained closed in Wayne on Sunday evening after a crash caused a pole and electrical wires to fall on the roadway.

Both the township's traffic map and the state 511nj.org traffic site show that U.S. 23 remains slow in both directions, from New York Avenue to Sleepy Hollow Drive, as of 8 p.m. Sunday. The right lanes are closed, according to 511nj.org.

There was no immediate report of any injuries. The Wayne Township Memorial First Aid Squad and Township Police arrived to the scene, and power was briefly out before PSE&G crews arrived to restore it according to reports from TapInto.net and NorthJersey.com.

Wayne Police had not posted any updates as of 8 p.m. Sunday evening, and PSE&G listed no power outages in the area.

A series of storms and heavy rainfall brought more than two inches of rain to several Passaic County communities between Thursday and Sunday.

West Milford had temporary road closures and some power outages on Saturday as well. Downed trees snarled traffic and took the power out for residents in the southern part of the township, said police.

A flood watch expires midnight Sunday in the county, and there were no new advisories for Monday posted as of Sunday evening.

Here is a summary of rain gauge reports around Passaic County, from Thursday evening through Sunday evening at 7:45 p.m., from the National Weather Service:

• Hawthorne: 1.45 inches
• West Milford: 2.46 inches
• Wayne: 2.17 inches
• Passaic: 1.9 inches
• Ringwood: 2.19 inches
• Ramapo River, above the dam at Pompton Lakes: 2.58 inches
• Pompton River at Pompton Plains: 2.59 inches
• Wanaque River, at Raymond Dam: 3.18 inches

Sources for the National Weather Service's rainfall monitor estimates include Synoptic Data, University of Utah MesoWest, the NWS Cooperative Observer Program, and CoCoRaHs.

Passaic County has seen above-average rainfall this year, based on NWS precipitation averages: With 29.3 inches of rainfall this year (as of July 15), the county is between 11 and 25 percent above usual totals.