Significant flooding from Hurricane Ida devastated parts of Bergen County, New Jersey, especially the following municipalities along the Saddle River: Borough of Lodi, Township of Saddle Brook, Township of Rochelle Park, the Borough of Maywood the City of Garfield the Township of South Hackensack and the Borough of Wallington which caused significant damage to and necessitated evacuations of hundreds of residents. Many are still in temporary housing. In addition, to the damage to private parties, local governments also expended significant monies and losses.

Sadly, these experiences are not new to our area. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, Bergen County has seen significant flooding in these areas during past storms in 1955, 1972, 1975, and 2007. Since the time of that assessment, we have had many more major floods 1999 (Floyd), 2011 (Irene), 2012 (Sandy), 2021 (Ida).

Over 20 years ago, we met with your predecessors (and then Congressman Menendez) and representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers to request assistance. We were told that while the impact was real, the money required to rectify the problem was not proportional to the population that would be served. However, as the flooding became more repetitive, we can now see how foolish this assessment was. We desperately need the Federal government to step in and assist us to mitigate the problem before more disasters occur.

I want to add my name to support for this needed Army Corps funding for Bergen County and our surrounding affected towns.

While we thank Governor Philip Murphy and President Biden for mobilizing FEMA to bring relief to our area and helping our recovery efforts, without funding for the Army Corps of Engineers’ project, the need for future disaster funding is inevitable. With your help, we can avoid the devastation that these floods inflict on our community. Fund the Army Corps of Engineers Flood Risk Management Project today!