Posted on February 2, 2022
LITTLE FALLS — When the Peckman River’s flood warning alarms peal, residents who live near its banks know they have only a few minutes to head for higher ground.
Twice in the past three years, the neighborhood has severely flooded: in August 2018 and most recently in September, when the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the state. Twice during the last 20 years, area residents were killed by the river’s raging storm waters.
“You’ve got to go or you are done,” said Philip Arena of Ryle Avenue, who recalled all too vividly what an overflowing Peckman River means to residents of the Jackson Street area. “My wife, who was driving in front of me, asked, ‘Where are we going to go?’ I said, ‘Go uphill,’ ” he said about the last time they fled the rising water.
On Monday, Arena stood with about two dozen residents at the corner of Jackson and Harrison streets and listened to politicians as they promised to fix the problem. During the most recent floods, those streets flowed with about 4 feet of water.
“You should feel safe in your home,” Little Falls Mayor James Damiano told the crowd Monday afternoon. He said the Peckman River flood prevention project, fully funded by more than $153 million in federal money secured by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-Montclair, and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, may soon end or at least minimize flooding in their neighborhood.
Sherrill and Pascrell were on hand to deliver the news. They were joined by local, county, state and environmental officials. Army Corps of Engineers representatives, who will design the project, were also on hand.
“It’s been a bit of a slog of nickel-and-diming studies,” Pascrell said. He said he has been fighting for funding since at least 1999, when he was the congressman for Little Falls and Woodland Park. “Getting $153 million was beyond my wildest dreams.”
