Flooding Continues in New Jersey, Pennsylvania

Heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Lee continued to batter the East Coast this week, causing flooding and mudslides across parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Several cities in the areas immediately around the Delaware River, Passaic River and Susquehanna River continue to be under flood warnings as of Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Industry supplier Points of Light in Fairfield, N.J., closed Friday due to the severe flooding in the area. "The city of Fairfield will be completely closed to incoming and outgoing traffic and will be patrolled by the National Guard due the continued flooding conditions," said T. Reagan Holm, CAS, president of Points of Light, in an email. "We have set up and will maintain remote centers around the city to help take care of as many calls and order request as possible as long as this situation persist."

"The city is scheduled to reopen late Sunday September 11, 2011 and we are expecting to be up and fully operational Monday," he continued.

Nearly 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate cities in both states as well as New York, according to the Associated Press. Residents in Trenton, Lambertville and Mercer County were being evacuated in New Jersey, while Wilkes-Barre and Lancaster County in Pennsylvania were still reeling from rising waters.

Royce Leather Gifts/Emporium Leather Co., Secaucus, N.J., which dealt with severe flooding during Hurricane Irene, has said that "continued rain storms have caused the Hudson and Passaic Rivers again to overflow onto Penhorn Ave and causing the water levels on the streets to be 5-plus feet," according to Billy Bauer, marketing manager. "The Royce Team again this week is traveling by commercial truck to and from work. The Fed Ex and UPS service has been interrupted due to the continued flooding."

He added that "Royce Leather ensures customer's on-time delivery by dropping off to the FedEx and UPS Hubs, as well as drop boxes for expedited orders. All customers have continued to be fully serviced without any delays in shipments."

The eastern rivers were still high after the heavy rainfall caused by Hurricane Irene last week, and the added precipitation from Tropical Storm Lee lead to nearly record-breaking levels for all three. The Susquehanna River crested at 38 feet Thursday night, the second-highest level ever recorded for the river in Wilkes-Barre. Flood levels are the worst in many areas since Hurricane Agnes passed by the Eastern seaboard in 1972.

"We're open, but there's flooding all around us," said John Spadaccini of CMTI Inc., a distributor in Lincoln Park, N.J. "There are a lot of companies all around us that are shut down." Spandaccini added that CMTI Inc. had been shut down for nine days resulting from Hurricane Irene.

President Obama declared a state of emergency for Pennsylvania overnight, and both Pennsylvania and New Jersey had been approved for disaster aid and public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The National Weather Service has indicated it expects the water levels to recede over the weekend.