CRANFORD, N.J. — Flood-stricken families and business owners across the Northeast were hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb Saturday and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from the deadly remnants of Hurricane Ida moves into high gear.
The White House said President Joe Biden will survey storm damage in New York City and Manville, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
The mud-caked sidewalks of Cranford, New Jersey, were lined with the detritus of the suburban dream: household items and furnishings that once made a cozy home reduced to rubbish by the sudden storm waters that swamped homes, cars and businesses and killed at least 50 people in six Eastern states.
This community along the normally placid Rahway River experienced major flooding when Ida arrived in the Northeast with furious rainfall that topped 8 inches in places Wednesday and Thursday. The main foes during the massive cleanup: muck, mud and sewage.
“The sewer backed up into our basement and now we have to get it deep-cleaned,” said Dave Coughlin, one of many residents on his street near the river busily engaged in dragging ruined possessions to the curb. He and his wife, Christina, were taking their two young children to stay somewhere else temporarily while the cleanup progressed.
“I don’t want them breathing this stuff in or smelling the bleach,” he said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy warned residents about the potentially harmful contaminants left behind.
“You have to assume the worst,” he said. “If you’re in there, you want to have windows and doors open.”
Abid Mian, whose unit in the apartment complex was ruined by 5 feet of flood waters that necessitated his family’s rescue by boat, is considering moving.
“Even on a good day, before this, I would sometimes smell fumes coming up from the river, or a really bad stink. This is the third this time this has happened in the last 10 years.” he said.