Borough buys equipment, studies weather to prepare to handle storms
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
On Sept. 17, 1999, Manville residents woke up to find water everywhere as Hurricane Floyd’s 10 to 12 inches of rain forced the Raritan and Millstone rivers over their banks.
It began raining late on Wednesday and continued into the wee hours of Friday morning. Manville suddenly became an island — all two square miles of it.
On Thursday night the Manville police were knocking on doors in Lost Valley telling residents to get out. The areas that were affected, besides the valley, included the south side along the Main Street and a large section of the north side.
The only way around was to walk the railroad tracks, and many did to see what was going on. Bridge Street had water as soon as you came up and over the bridge, leaving houses in Lost Valley underwater — and some barely visible. There were many boat emergency rescues by the fire department, rescue squad, police and other emergency personnel. A shelter was set up at the VFW on Washington Avenue. Schools were closed for more than a week.
In the 15 years since Floyd, Manville has been through a nor’easter in April 2007, snowmelt flooding in March 2010, Hurricane Irene in August 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
Since Hurricane Floyd, the borough is better equipped to handle any emergency, according to Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke. Since Floyd, Manville has lost 53 homes in the Lost Valley section, and the census shows the borough’s population dropped by one as people have left and others have moved in. Some Lost Valley houses on Lincoln and Boesel were bought out.
Many residents have been through the flood situations multiple times and some are waiting patiently now for buyouts following Hurricane Irene.
A regional flood Raritan and Millstone Flood Control Commission has been formed and the Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating the best answer to flooding: on a levee floodwall, widening and deepening the river or flood-proofing of homes and/or buyouts. The state is now involved.
"The biggest accomplishment is the flood commission and focusing in what we need to have done. It has been scattered over the years. Everybody is so happy when it is over with, it is done, finished and we are moving on having to get through," said Mr. Garwacke.
He added: "Our emergency response has changed dramatically. That is a huge difference. (OEM Coordinator) Kenny Otrimski has a great saying: ‘You are only as good as your last emergency.’
He said that prior to Floyd, the biggest flood was 1971 following Hurricane Doria.
"We have a much better system of weather stations and government national weather service so we know where storms are going," Mr. Garwacke said. "Now they can look at the weather gauges and the river gauges based upon the rain that has fallen they will know the probability of possible flooding.
There is a reverse 911 phone alert system to notify residents of flooding and other important issues. Prior to Floyd, Manville had nothing. After Floyd came AM radio station 1700, the website and five sirens.
The borough is working on getting generators for the VFW and has received grant money to buy them.
"Public works knows now to move everything out of their building so they don’t lose all the equipment," said Mr. Garwacke, noting the headquarters is located in a flood zone.
People during Floyd did not know to move things out; today when the word comes down to expect flooding, people bring in moving vans to get belonging out of their houses. They are making plans as to where they are going to go and what to do.
"Our emergency response is a lot better. The county is better. The Red Cross is better providing us with relief. I feel that we are pretty strong enough to handle what is thrown at us," said Mr. Garwacke.
"I think the biggest thing that hasn’t changed is the urgency of the state and the federal level to help. Everybody says we should be doing something and we are, but there are a lot of flooded areas."
The town now has an Office of Emergency Management building, with equipment and director Otrimski . He was the deputy fire chief at the time and remembers going bowling with the fireman then went back to fire house for a pre-planning meeting. Many firemen were in Wildwood for a convention, so he was in charge.
Mr. Otrimski said he was watching the weather with the other fireman and hearing the different scenarios. The rain was coming down hard on Thursday morning with five or six inches during the day. Residents were already getting water in their basements.
. Little did they know that they needed to look where the rain falls in the river basins. Now, with a more sophisticated monitoring system, more can be done.
"Early warning was one of the biggest things that came out of Floyd and that we needed boats. We had nothing," he said. "We only had one siren in town; now we have five. Now we get software from FEMA and Homeland Security. We sit down and track these storms from the inception."
During Hurricane Irene, such knowledge helped the town be more prepared. Four days before the storm, he went to Mayor Lillian Zuza and showed her the information and told her that maybe they should listen to it.
"Four days later and Irene hit and it was almost identical to Floyd," he said. "Fifteen years ago we would have never been able to predict what Floyd did like we did with Irene."
Knowledge allowed OEM to warn residents and be prepared. "Irene was coming and it was going to be a bad one. In Floyd, we didn’t get out. We had no prior warning" he said.
Mr. Otrimski praised county hydraulics engineers. If their calculations project a storm is going to be worse than predicted, "I go by what he says and 90 percent of the time he is right," said Mr. Otrimski.
With everything learned over the past 15 years, Mr. Otrimski said, "It is like comparing apples to oranges for what we have now."
Many of the people who helped deal with Floyd emergencies are still helping people. Marilynn and Mike Fiure opened and ran the Red Cross shelter at the VFW. Today both are still very active in the Red Cross and have run the shelter a few more times. The staff at the VFW, which cooked all those meals and helped those staying in the shelter, are still providing the same help when needed.
There were two young boys, one in eighth grade and the other in ninth, who spent their week helping the Fiures at the shelter. Both are still helping others today.
Daniel Erickson said he couldn’t believe it has been 15 years.
"I can still remember the large green borough dump truck picking my mom and I up from our house, crossing over the bridge by Weston School through several feet of water and bringing us to the VFW to begin to assist," he said. "I can remember the cots being lined up in the VFW, the National Guard having the trailer of potable water outside and in the foyer of the VFW and all the folks with pets. I become friendly with many of them, walking and feeding them as the days went on. I was 14 at the time, and my mom and I did anything and everything we could, beginning at 6 a.m. every day until late night."
Mr. Erickson said he missed work at his job for Dr. Kowal on William Street.
"This was the beginning of my countless hours of helping our friends and neighbors of Manville," he said. "After losing my mom four years ago to cancer, that was even more of a push for me to volunteer more and more. From our days on the rescue squad, her as president of the auxiliary to me serving as lieutenant, the volunteer hours kept rolling."
"To this day, volunteerism has been instilled in me by mom through our town of Manville. No matter where I live it will always be my town."
Mr. Erickson is the manager of Middlesex Funeral Home in Middlesex and lives in Easton, Pensylvania. He continues to assist at the Sacred Heart Festival every year and is an active member of the Middlesex Elks. He can also be found volunteering with the Dunellen-Green Brook Rotary Club.
"Volunteering is part of my life now. It’s not something I need to do or necessarily always want to, but it’s who I am and the person I have become," he said.
The 13-year-old Jason Zangara became a volunteer after having his Floyd experience. He volunteered at Somerset Medical Center for many years until he was offered a job; became an Eagle Scout; volunteered with Mr. Erickson on the Manville First Aid and Rescue Squad; is an EMT and is a exempt Manville fireman, where he served with Company 1 for more than 10 years. Mr. Zangara also assisted Mr. Otrimski and the OEM staff during hurricanes Sandy and Irene.
"Volunteering in that shelter began my journey through the emergency services, including the Manville Fire Department, the rescue squad, the office of emergency management and finally medical school," said Mr. Zangara.
Mr. Zangara recently left for medical school to pursue becoming a doctor so he could continue help people.
Barbara Lipari was in the shelter in 1999 and was quoted in the Manville News right after Floyd saying, "He has done wonders for us. He is a great kid. He is going to be very successful. He wants to be a heart surgeon and I told him Jason ‘you’ve already done wonders and hit a lot of hearts.’"

