TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The township’s volunteer firefighters joined the Northeast’s battle against Hurricane Ida’s ravaging remnants, determined to protect life, limb, and property from rising water.
And flooding at Washington Elementary School knocked the facility out of commission — damaging its electrical panel — one week shy of the Sept. 9 first day of school, with district leadership overseeing repairs and arranging new receiving schools for the student body.
Mayor Peter Calamari posted on Sept. 2 that “the southeast side of town was hit particularly hard along the Musquapsink Brook, requiring our all our emergency service and DPW personnel to work through the night.”
He said, “With reports of major flooding at Calvin Street and Bergen Avenue, the fire department went door to door advising residents to evacuate due to the continuing rising waters.”
He said firefighters responded to President Road, Bergen Avenue, Cosman Street and Calvin Street, several condominiums in Washington Common, the Bethany Community Center, and the Washington Grand garages on Ridgewood Road, where some residents needed to be rescued by boat and others required pumps to help remove 3–4 feet of water from their homes.”
Calamari said, “Excessive water — approximately 6 feet — in the boiler room at Washington School [at 44 School St.] triggered the fire alarm,” an event that prompted a fire department response that included the setup of another pump to facilitate the water’s removal.
As of the mayor’s writing the WTFD reported there was still a foot of water in the boiler room.
Jill Mortimer, superintendent for the Westwood Regional School District, just starting out in her role, announced a plan to relocate Washington Elementary School students and some Jessie F. George Elementary School students to other schools for the start of the fall term.
Workers toiled through the night
Calamari said, “Our DPW crew worked two additional overnight shifts to assist residents and our emergency services personnel throughout the night, making sure flooded roadways including Washington Avenue, Pascack Road, and Meisten Street were clearly marked and blocked off.”
He said two trees came down across the roadway on Gorga Place, which the DPW cleared. The bridge between Woodfield and Cleveland was blocked by “huge amounts of debris,” he said, noting the DPW was to remove this debris along with county assistance.
“The DPW was also notified the bridge on Washington Avenue sustained erosion by the sidewalk and we can confirm the county was contacted regarding this issue.”
Calamari said, “As always, our Police Department worked around the clock answering residents’ calls for assistance. Approximately 20 homes sustained heavy water damage due to the overflowing brook as reported thus far.”
He said Sgt. Rio Fasciano was out as OEM coordinator to open the senior center for stranded motorists and all evacuated residents. One family was relocated to a hotel.
The entire command staff was also called out for this emergency, along with several officers and one extra dispatcher, the mayor said.
He added, “Fortunately, little to no power was lost in any areas in town. Although the flooding reached the same heights as Hurricane Sandy, it did recede quickly after the rain stopped and we did not experience high winds.”
According to the mayor, “The police department assisted the fire department in all aspects of their efforts and conducted water rescue of vehicles stuck on Washington Avenue near Seasons, where many cars required towing.”
He said residents are encouraged to contact township administration with any outstanding issues and to report additional damages.
Among the stories and images circulating on Facebook are those thanking the DPW, who worked to free a log that had jammed the brook at the walkway bridge between Woodfield Road and Cleveland Avenue, behind Bethany Community Center.
Equipment used in the extraction was acquired from military surplus.
Schools ready to rock
Mortimer wrote district families in the aftermath, “I am pleased to say we are ready to announce the plan for the Washington School students. Unfortunately, the electrical panel will not be repaired in time to open school on Sept. 9.”
She said, “We do not have a timeline for the completion of the work just yet. Therefore, we will relocate the Washington School students and some George School students to our other schools.”
Parents praised district hustle and communication on learning of the plan to accommodate all 324 students and 57 staff members:
- Washington students grades K, 1, and 2 were relocated to Jessie F. George Elementary School.
- Washington students grades 3 and 4 were relocated to Westwood Regional High School, on Ridgewood Road, and they are separated from the high school students.
- Washington students grade 5 were relocated to Brookside Elementary School, on Lake Drive in Westwood.
- Washington AIM students were relocated to the newly overhauled and expanded Westwood Regional Middle School, 3rd Avenue in Westwood.
- Jessie F. George 3-5 Connect students were relocated to Westwood Regional Middle School.
- Jessie F. George K-2 Connect students were relocated to Westwood Regional Pre-K at the high school.
Mortimer said, “We understand separating siblings is not ideal, but this is the only viable plan we have at this time. All homerooms will have their own space in order to maximize their instructional experiences.”
And she said, “We are following the same Covid-prevention protocols we would if the children were at their home schools. In the meantime, we will relax our tardy policy so that affected parents do not feel as though they need to rush getting to more than one drop-off.”
According to Mortimer, “We are in discussions with the Bethany Community Center for a lease option if it seems as though Washington School will not be usable for an extended period of time. The Bethany site will likely be able to accommodate all of the Washington School staff and students.”
Mortimer said she will share more information as it becomes available. “The affected teachers have been invited to come in Monday–Wednesday to set up their new classrooms. Please be patient with us, as we put this plan together in a day, and there will likely be some areas that need further consideration.”
She urged families refer to the district web resource set up for the purpose, “as it will answer questions and prevent district personnel from responding to multiple emails on the same topic. District administrators, including myself, are available this weekend if you need to email us regarding an urgent matter.
“For all other questions, please just let this unfold, as they will likely be answered.”