Residents raise concerns after county contractor paves over critical sump pumps and storm drains: ‘This is very problematic’

A flood-prone New Jersey neighborhood faced a conundrum when county contractors covered up sump pumps and storm drains as part of a restoration project.

It happened on Park Avenue in Hoboken in August, just before Tropical Storm Debby reached the area, The Hoboken Girl reported.

In a subsequent account of the situation by PIX11, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy said two sump pump drains were “inadvertently” paved over and two or three storm drains were partially obscured.

Residents were also concerned about the new height of the road as it sits flush with curbs in places and puts garden apartments at risk.

A local explained the problem in a Reddit comment.

“This is very problematic because during strong storms we get water in the lobby of the building and this only increases the amount and frequency of the water,” they said in a contribution to the PIX11 story.

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This proved prescient, as even before the storm hit, heavy rain caused flooding, which the cleanup work appeared to have made worse.

“It is important for you to know that during last night's storm event, the deputy coordinator of the city's Office of Emergency Management, stationed on Park Avenue, observed that water levels were higher than in previous storms of this type, which “This is likely due to the higher grade of the road. Asphalt was laid on or near the curb rise,” Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a letter to Guy on August 7. “The city received several emails from long-time residents who observed that flooding along Park Avenue last night was much worse than usual, with flooding levels higher and faster than previous storms.

PIX11 reported that the problems were supposed to be fixed before Debby arrived and that crews were supposed to “build the sidewalks” within a week.

Hoboken, which suffered $110 million in damage from Hurricane Sandy's flooding and its 14-foot storm surge in 2012, has since spent years rebuilding, redesigning and protecting the city to prepare for to prepare for future flood events.

This is crucial because human-caused warming of the planet is leading not only to record heat, but also to increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall and flooding.

But misunderstandings — and even outright lies, as one Florida resident did after intentionally blocking a stormwater pipe with concrete — hinder the path to a safer future.

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