Mayor Ari Bernstein & OEM Director Michael Dillon Post Tropical Storm Ida Update - 9.2.2021

Mayor Ari Bernstein:

Good Afternoon Allendale, I am Ari Bernstein, the Mayor of Allendale. Over the last two weeks, Allendale has experienced two tropical storms, Henri (Onri) and Ida. In total, we have accumulated close to 12 inches of rain here between these two historic weather events. As always, our Emergency Services and Borough employees have stepped up to the challenge. I wanted to take a few moments today to give you an update on where we stand today in our recovery efforts. Joining me is Allendale's OEM Director Michael Dillon with an update:

OEM Director Michael Dillon:

Thank you Mr. Mayor. On September 1st at 6pm, the Borough’s emergency operations center was activated as Tropical Depression Ida approached our area. Our Borough’s emergency plans were put into action. The large amount of rain coupled with the already saturated soil, caused flooding in many areas which required the closing of numerous county and local roadways. From late evening into the overnight hours, emergency responders and public works personnel responded to over 75 calls for service. These calls included residential flooding conditions, persons who needed to be removed from their vehicles after driving into flooded roadways, and other various emergencies. A small area of town was without power for a short time while Orange and Rockland addressed a transformer issue. Emergency Management continues to work closely with residents and Borough officials to recover from this storm. The New Jersey governor has declared a state of emergency which will assist in the recovery effort. Crestwood Lake, Park, and the Celery Farm have experienced severe impacts from the storm. All of Crestwood Lake and the surrounding area will remain CLOSED until further notice. Our DPW crew will need time to fully assess the damages and move forward with storm remediation. Please do not traverse through the park where barricades are present and do not enter the water. The Celery Farm is also closed until further notice, please do not enter the park. Updates will be sent regarding Crestwood Lake and the Celery Farm as they are available. Thank you to our emergency services along with our public works staff who worked tirelessly throughout the storm. These professionals exemplify the meaning of teamwork and service.

Mayor Ari Bernstein:

Thank you, Mike. Our response to these storms does not happen on a whim, our Emergency Services lead by our OEM Team plan and train for these emergencies year round. I want to thank Mike Dillon, our Police Department, volunteer Fire and Ambulance Corps, CERT members, Director of Operations Ron Kistner and his DPW team for all their hard work during the storms and now as they address the clean-up. Today is the first day of school for many of our students. I am happy to report that due to the work of all the individuals we mentioned above, as well as our dedicated school staff and administration, opening day kicked off without much of an impact from the weather. Good luck to all of the students, teachers, and parents as we start this new school year. Again, thank you to all of our departments for another job well done. Thank you to the residents for their patience. We will continue to keep you updated via our website, constant contact emails, and social media. Thank you very much.