From the issue of May 17, 2007.
Time for prevention, not flood response
To the editor:
Running for a prior council seat, my number one issue besides our ever-escalating property-tax bills was to highlight the need for a "flood prevention plan" and to work to secure the federal funding necessary to keep Manville dry; not the need for an improved emergency flood response plan.
Our elected officials haven’t given top priority to this problem since Hurricane Floyd struck and since 1971 when Hurricane Doria hit Manville hard.
Flooding has plagued our town since the mid-1950s, only to get significantly worse and more frequent as central New Jersey’s development continues unabated.
Our elected officials on all levels have let the residents of Manville down over the past 36 years. The town of Bound Brook has secured some federal funding and still needs much more to complete a flood retaining wall along the Raritan River to keep their main street business district dry.
I wonder what effect keeping all that water on our side of the wall will have on future water levels in Manville.
I once lived in a flood zone in town and know firsthand the heartache it causes.
Now, with what seems like much more of New Jersey affected by flooding than in the past, our chances of securing federal funds maybe even a bigger challenge than before. The best and maybe only solution at this point in time is for some to consider moving to higher ground.
Manville doesn’t have time to wait years for a plan to be developed. The time to begin corrective action was back in that September of 1971.
Richard M. Onderko
Manville