Plainfield flooding

*

(PT's fridge-mounted DPW mailer and trusty flooding guide.)

Yes, it rained yesterday -- about 4 inches.

PT's email box was full of urgent weather updates from the notification service to which I subscribe.

(It's free, and you can get it delivered by email or wireless to your cell phone. Check it out here: emergencyemail.org. It's used by emergency services, public works departments and school systems.)

With all the flap we had in September about updating the local FEMA flood maps so that homeowners could get flood insurance if needed, PT thought it would be interesting to check out the local situation for spot flooding.

Using the trusty DPW fall schedule mailer (with its blue flood zone markings), PT took a tour of town.

The First and Fourth Wards were practically bone-dry -- despite the large blue area indicating much of the First Ward is in a flood zone.

North Avenue, from Richmond Street to Terrill Road, which was a major project of the McWilliams administration (installing storm sewers, fiber optic cable access and rebuilding the roadway) was perfectly drained without any flooding -- in fact, nary a puddle.

The situation in Wards Two and Three was quite different.

Everywhere that people had raked leaves into the street, there were numerous blocked storm sewers causing enormous puddles to form.

Even where they were kept the mandated distance from the curb -- as along Assemblyman Green's block of Prospect Avenue -- puddling spread out from each curb and nearly touching at the center of the street.

Seems like the Administration needs to consider an extra leaf pickup, since many trees have not even dropped their leaves yet and we are past the first pickup and the streets are full of leaves.

The Cedar Brook crested without flooding STELLE AVENUE behind the high school (just barely), but PARK DRIVE (Pemberton Avenue) was not so lucky and was closed between Parkside Road and Arlington Avenue.

(Water floods the driveway of 1275 Arlington every time it rains.)

Sadly, the residents of 1275 Arlington Avenue were once again marooned.

PT has often noticed that every time it even sprinkles this section of Arlington Avenue floods at the bend in the street and up the homeowner's driveway, making it necessary to practically don hip waders to get to their cars.

At first I thought there simply was no storm sewer on this particular stretch of the street, but the homeowner pointed out to me where the inlets were and that they have had problems for years without the city correcting the issue.

PT has seen it flood even when there wasn't a single leaf on the ground, so it doesn't seem to be from leaves jamming the inlets.

Yesterday, President Bush's held a news conference at which he acknowledged the "thumpin'" he had received at the polls on Tuesday and announced the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Later, NPR commentator Daniel Schorr was asked by an interviewer what he thought of the sudden 'resignation.'

Schorr said that not since Jonah was unceremoniously thrown overboard to calm the angry seas was such a swift action taken -- and that he doubted it would 'calm the seas for very long.'

On a rainy day in Plainfield, the watery metaphor seemed to brighten things up a bit...

-- Dan Damon

Not getting your own CLIPPINGS email daily? Click here to get started.