Cleaning up after the Spring Nor'Easter

Airport

Teterboro Airport is closed and under water. Newscopter Seven was over the airport this morning, the airport's runways are partially submerged.

New Jersey Residents

In Paterson, New Jersey on Tuesday rescue crews use rafts to reach residents trapped by flood waters. Newscopter Seven was live overhead as the rescue teams had to rescue residents and their pets after the Passaic River continues to rise and is not expected to crest until 2:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

In Bound Brook, residents are waking and assessing the damage to their homes and property. About 1,100 residents had to sleep in area shelters overnight.

Both residents in Bound Brook and Manville are trying to figure out exactly how they are going to recover from all the flooding from the Spring Nor'Easter.

SWAT Teams police, both local and state are patrolling the areas and making sure there is no looting.

Three feet of water still covered Main Street in Bound Brook at noontime. But residents and business owners were anxious to get back to see the damage to their property.

The school used for shelter last night was expected to be closed tonight so the school could open on Monday.

Meanwhile, residents in Wayne were bracing themselves for possible flooding as the Passaic and Pompton Rivers were at the flood stage and expected to rise. This was expected to be a concern for the next 24 hours.

Much of the residents in Wayne spent the morning cleaning up but readying themselves for the worst as the rivers continued to rise throughout the day. Residents are advised to seek higher ground.

In nearby Lodi, many people's basements and first floors and just houses in general were just a complete mess from flood waters. The only way for people to get around, of course, is by boat.

Flooding in Lincoln Park was causing problems on Route 46 and shut down some local streets due to flooding.

The storm claimed the lives of two men in Woodbridge and Belleville.

Westchester Residents

The damage from the storm was in full view Tuesday in the usually vibrant downtown village of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, where the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers overflowed their banks after 6.75 inches of rain fell from Sunday through 4:15 p.m. Monday.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer toured the ravaged Mamaroneck and called the town "the epicenter of the damage done in New York State.

Six departments from Long Island were sent into Westchester today to help pump the water out. Some businesses suffered flooding of almost five feet high, but were optimistic that they could reopen.

Mamaroneck and New Rochelle were among the suburban communities north of New York City most severely hit by the storm.

Connecticut Residents

After touring storm-damaged areas of Connecticut, Governor M. Jodi Rell announced yesterday she had spoken twice to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region One Director Arthur W. Cleaves and is requesting all available federal assistance for Connecticut homeowners, businesses and cities and towns affected by the spring nor'easter that brought heavy rains and high winds to the state.

The Governor is asking FEMA to declare a major disaster in Connecticut.

Governor Rell met with local officials Monday afternoon in Wallingford, Shelton and Danbury to tour damaged areas and discuss cleanup operations. Governor Rell spent the morning at the state Emergency Operations Center in the Hartford Armory leading briefings and assessments of the statewide effects of the storm.

Flood Relief:

The New York State Insurance Department today activated its toll-free Disaster Hotline to assist property owners in the event they experience flood damage caused by heavy rains moving through the state, Acting Superintendent Eric R. Dinallo said.

The Insurance Department's Disaster Hotline number is 1-800-339-1759.The hotline is staffed by personnel from the Department's Consumer Services Bureau on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

FEMA has deployed teams to assess the damage.

In neighboring Rye, dry ice will also be distributed by Con Edison at Rye City Hall at 10 a.m. at 1051 Boston Post Road.

Con Edison urges customers to report power interruptions or service problems on-line at www.conEd.com, or by calling Con Edison's toll-free customer service number 1-800-75-CON ED (1-800-752-6633). When reporting an outage, customers should have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors have also lost power.

Tax Filing Deadline Extended for Flood Victims:

It's tax day, but the IRS is giving a little break to flood victims affected by the Spring Nor'easter.

The IRS is giving people directly affected by the storm a two day extension on filing their tax returns.

Impacted tax payers will now have until midnight Thursday, April 19th to file. In order to avoid late fees, the IRS says victims should mark their returns with the words "April 16th Storm".

For those filing electronically, use the software's disaster feature if available. For more information, go to IRS.GOV

Accu-Weather Forecast

The clouds hold tough through Wednesday, with a few sunny breaks late in the day. Highs on Wednesday will be in the upper 40's to near 50-degrees.

Thursday will fair much better with highs in the 50's and a much diminished wind.

However, if you want the real feel of spring, you don't have to wait too long. The weekend will feature sunshine and highs in the 60's.

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