On Sept. 16 and 17, 1999 Hurricane Floyd and New Jersey crossed paths due to outdoor pressure differentials and other related natural factors. More than a foot of rain fell to the ground during the time it took to leave the area and wreak havoc further North and East of the Garden State. As might be expected, severe flooding resulted from the large amount of water which fell in a such a short time.

This article is the first in a series of reports from the field which details the actions one school district took when faced with the problem of flooding in one elementary school, and decontamination of three other schools which were used as emergency shelters for hundreds of residents who were displaced when their homes were inundated with flood water.

This month, we are simply going to set the stage for succeeding articles. In these articles we will discuss the following items:

1. Background factors.

2. Specifics relating to Hurricane Floyd and its impact on New Jersey.

3. The sequence of events leading from initial flooding up through final cleaning and reoccupancy.

4. Considerations relating to the overall response strategy

5. Activities of all concerned parties including the school board, parents and staff, displaced occupants of the temporary shelters, consultants, contractors, insurance companies, and other related parties.

6. Project design issues and considerations.

7. Public meetings designed to keep lines of communication open.

8. Interesting items or situations which may add spice to the story we are about to tell.

Floyd Meets Bound Brook

Floyd was the sixth storm of the Hurricane season of 1999. It had been rampaging through the Atlantic and was steadily heading North in mid-September. It ultimately made landfall in North Carolina and slowly headed up the East Coast. By the time it reached New Jersey, it had been downgraded to Tropical Storm status. That didn’t prevent the storm from dropping more than a foot of water in less than 24 hours in some locations.

The towns of Manville and Bound Brook, among others in New Jersey, were particularly hard hit. These two towns are adjacent to each other and the Raritan River flows through both. They are also at the bottom of a valley that is directly below the Watchung Mountains. Historically, heavy storms cause water to run off the mountains and directly downhill all the way to the Raritan. Water will begin to back up if it accumulates faster in the river than it can flow into the Atlantic Ocean 25 miles away. Every generation or so, a massive storm roars through this area and causes catastrophic flooding. In 1973, Hurricane Agnes caused similar damage.

The large amount of rain and the short time in which it fell was sufficient to cause flood waters to rise more than 20 feet above Main Street in Bound Brook by Friday, Sept. 17. Main Street at that location is directly north of the river.

Devastation and debris caused by Floyd.

To make matters worse, two buildings caught fire in the middle of the raging flood. Fire fighting was accomplished from boats and helicopters from New York. This event made all the national news wires and also some international wires as well. At the time this event occurred, I was in Germany conducting an IEQ and Mold course for the U.S. Army and I heard the words “Bound Brook” on a German TV station. I looked up to see the fire fighters trying to control the blaze.

At this point, the entire town was shut down and people stranded by the flood waters had to be rescued from rooftop perches by boat or Coast Guard helicopters. The only means of transportation in the downtown area was by boat.

Early estimates indicated that more than 2,000 families and 7,000 Bound Brook residents were affected by the floods which carried more than six feet of water into some homes north of Main Street. Most families in town were without gas, water or electricity. As of Sept. 20, more than 1,000 people were still residing in shelters around the town.

Three of these shelters were schools operated by the local Board of Education. These schools were located on higher ground north of Main Street going toward the mountains. They became “home” to hundreds of adults and children who essentially lost everything when the flood arrived.

The other school, LaMonte Elementary School, did not survive the flood unscathed and ended up being inundated by flood water which reached as high as 4 feet above ground level. This water and flooded the basement and a sub-basement. The basement area included a gymnasium, a cafeteria and kitchen, classrooms, the boiler room, lavatories, and storerooms. The sub-basement was home to ventilation shafts and tunnels which fed air to the entire building. The system was approximately 100 years old and an engineering marvel. We will discuss this system in more detail as we proceed with our story.

The installments we will present in the coming months will detail how this project was successfully completed in a very short time and under some very trying circumstances and operating conditions. We will describe how all parties worked together to address a serious situation, how potential health and safety issues were recognized, evaluated and controlled and how the school was transformed from a “war zone” back into a facility which could be occupied by board staff and young children.

Without the cooperation and professionalism displayed by all concerned parties, this project would never have gotten off the ground. At the time this first installment is being written, the upper levels of the school have been reoccupied by district-level staff. The basement is being inspected and other clearance activities are continuing. We will take you all the way through the process so stay tuned. We hope that some insight will be provided into “real world” situations and IEQ issues and that some of the lessons learned may contribute in some small way to improved response to these types of catastrophic events.