The remnants of Hurricane Ida may dump four to six inches of rain –and possibly more–on Greater Morristown, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued a flash flood watch from Wednesday morning, Sept. 1, through Thursday morning, Sept. 2, 2021:
Flooding of creeks, streams, urban areas, and poor drainage areas
is likely in the areas of heaviest rain. Water is likely to cover
the roads, especially in low-lying areas. Moderate to major
flooding is possible along some main stem rivers, and roads and
structures near these rivers may be flooded.
Morris County’s emergency management director, Jeff Paul, issued this statement on Tuesday:
The Morris County Office of Emergency Management is currently monitoring the weather forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 1st, with a potential impact into Thursday, Sept. 2nd.
At the time of this communication, the weather data suggests that we may experience a potentially significant flooding event. Overall, 4-6” of rain (with locally higher amounts possible) is expected before the rain tapers off during the predawn hours on Thursday. The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch which is in effect from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning.
This rainstorm event has the potential to cause widespread areas of flooding. This, along with streams/creeks and rivers have the potential to overflow leading to road closures. In addition, winds may increase tomorrow night and although they won’t be overly gusty, they can be enough to take down some trees and caused power outages as a result of the already saturated grounds.
We have been in touch with our partners at Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) and they have assured us that they are staffed and ready to respond to any outages caused by this storm. Flood mitigation protocols are also in place for any JCP&L properties susceptible to flooding.
In the event outages occur due to severe weather, customers without power are encouraged to report their outage by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877), clicking the “Report Outage” link on www.firstenergycorp.com, or by texting “OUT” to 544487. Customers should immediately report downed wires to 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or call their local police department/9-1-1 for emergency issues.
Please remain diligent on the roadways and stay away from downed wires, even if you believe they are no longer carrying electricity. Extra caution should be used in areas where downed lines are tangled with trees or other debris. Motorists are cautioned to treat intersections with inoperable traffic signals as four-way stops.
We will provide additional updates on the impact of the storm, as needed.
Stay safe!
