Murphy, local officials tour Warren County sites damaged by weekend flooding, mudslides

Gov. Phil Murphy visited Warren County Monday and promised officials would be there "as long as it takes" to help local residents hit hard by the weekend's torrential rains, floods and mudslides.

Murphy, joined by local officials, toured parts of Knowlton and Belvidere in the morning, where he surveyed the damage and spoke with residents impacted by the storms. The governor declared a state of emergency at 4 p.m. Sunday in response to severe weather throughout the state.

Murphy said it was "incredibly important for folks . . . to document every penny you spend" on cleanup efforts, "whether you're a small business, whether you're a homeowner, whether you're a community or a county." He also assured Warren County residents: "We're going to stay here as long as it takes."

Much of North Jersey was under flash flood warnings and flood watches Sunday that remained in effect until midnight. Rain totals reached as high as 2.16 inches at Morris County's Oak Ridge Reservoir in a 12-hour period ending Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The state of emergency remained in effect as of Monday afternoon with no update as to when it may be lifted, according to Alex Altman, the governor's deputy communications director.

Highways closed in NJ, 5 dead in Pennsylvania

The rain triggered a landslide on Route 46 near Ramseyburg Road in Knowlton, closing the highway in both directions Sunday, according to the state Department of Transportation. Route 23 in Wayne was shut down in both directions as well after a vehicle struck a pole and left downed wires across the road.

In Pennsylvania, at least five people were dead and two children, a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old, are missing after being swept away by floodwaters Saturday in the southeastern part of the state, just outside Trenton.

A joint statement Sunday from the Warren County Commissioners alerted residents to the high risk of flooding throughout the area and urged the public to exercise caution when traveling.

Still assessing the damage

"Warren County Administration, OEM and DPW staff have been working around the clock with our local and state partners to identify storm damage and provide life-saving assistance for those in need," said James Kern III, a Warren County commissioner and the county's public safety liaison. "The next few days will provide a better picture of the total impact to our county as we stabilize, assess and quantify the extent of the infrastructure damage we have undergone."

Jersey Central Power & Light, which serves more than 52,000 customers in Warren County, announced on its website that the "unprecedented flooding" in parts of the county has prevented crews from safely getting to to some damaged locations. The company provided a list of supermarkets in the area offering free water and ice to residents without power.

Roughly 1,500 JCP&L customers in Warren County reported outages as of early Sunday evening, according to the agency's outage map. By Monday afternoon, that number had dropped to just 175.

North Jersey forecast

The National Weather Service forecast as of Monday afternoon called for additional, albeit much less severe, storms throughout much of North Jersey for the rest of the week. In Warren County, there is a 60% chance of rain Tuesday accumulating up to a quarter of an inch, with higher amounts possible in localized thunderstorms.

Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties.

Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Warren County NJ: Phil Murphy tours flood, mudslide damage