DUI Lawyers in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ

Flooding has long been an issue in New Jersey, from natural disasters, such as Superstorm Sandy, to bad rainstorms that bring the region's rivers well above flood stage.

The state's largest flood took place in 1903, when 10 inches of rain fell across portions of the Passaic Basin, the National Weather Service said. In the end, flooding encompassed 25% of Wallington, 20% of Passaic and 10.3 miles of Paterson streets. Seven bridges crossing the river were destroyed, two were damaged and about 1,200 Paterson residents were displaced.

Today, a variety of modern-day factors contribute to the state's chronic flooding issues, from continued development to aging stormwater infrastructure, intensifying storms due to climate change and more. Over the years, experts have been brought in to discuss the problem and projects have been planned, only to go nowhere in several cases.

Here is a look at some of North Jersey's most flood-prone towns in one of the United States' most at-risk counties.

Bergen named one of nation's most at-risk counties for flooding

Bergen County is the second-most-at-risk county in the United States for flooding, according to a 2024 study by LawnStarter, which compared over 940 counties with a "relatively moderate to very high flood risk," the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Several other New Jersey counties also made the list.

Harris County, Texas, came in as the most at-risk county, followed by four New Jersey counties: Bergen, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May. Middlesex County came in at 16 and Monmouth County at 20.

The origin of North Jersey's chronic flooding

A variety of modern-day factors contribute to North Jersey's flooding issues, but the root of the problem can be traced back about 25,000 years, to when the Passaic River Basin was a massive lake.

"Lake Passaic," which measured 15 miles wide and stretched from Paterson to Short Hills, existed for about 2,000 years, experts told NorthJersey.com in 2018. Eventually, the lake drained through a rock formation in Little Falls called Great Notch, forming the Passaic River. The basin's previous drainage point near Short Hills became blocked years earlier when a glacier retreated from the area, leaving behind debris.

Due to the elevation of Great Notch, the Passaic River flows out of the basin much more slowly, creating a higher risk of flooding, which continues to affect the region to this day.

Routine flooding in several Bergen County towns

Floods have become a way of life for residents throughout Bergen County. As development, aging infrastructure and the high cost of flood mitigation projects combine with intensifying storms due to climate change, the problem is expected to get worse.

Lodi, for example, is routinely at risk for floods. The borough saw intense flooding in January 2024 after a storm dumped 3.5 inches of rain across the state. Tom Koziol, the 40-year owner of a Main Street apartment building that backs up to the Saddle River, told NorthJersey.com at the time that it was around the seventh flood that had struck, saying, "We go through this all the time."

Just weeks earlier, a storm caused flooding all over the region. Employees at the Lodi ShopRite had to be evacuated by boat as floodwater rushed into the store. Allendale, Teaneck, Hackensack and Mahwah all saw flooding as a result of this storm, and the county Office of Emergency Management told NorthJersey.com that excessive runoff resulted in flash flooding of rivers, small creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone areas.

In December 2024, the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study Ridgewood's flooding pattern. Village officials asked the corps to get involved to design plans to control flooding along the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and Saddle River after dealing with flooding "three times in four months."

NorthJersey.com's "Saturation Point" series in 2021 examined New Jersey's flood problems, identifying numerous at-risk communities and what could be done to help mitigate flooding in the future.

The series featured several Bergen County towns, including Lodi, Garfield, Wallington, South Hackensack, Saddle Brook, Rochelle Park, Paramus and Fair Lawn, all of which deal with significant flooding from the lower Saddle River and the Sprout Brook.

Edgewater, which borders the Hudson River, gets runoff from the Palisades. As a result, the town easily floods during a normal rainstorm at high tide, Borough Administrator Greg Franz told NorthJersey.com in 2021.

Is my property at risk of flooding?

Although Bergen County sees a good deal of flooding, the risk extends throughout the state from Morris County to Cape May.

To view flood risks at or around a specific property, check out the state Department of Environmental Protection's flood indicator tool. This interactive map allows residents to view indicators of potential flood risk on or near selected properties. Examples of flood indicators include bodies of water, rivers and FEMA Flood Hazard Zones.

For additional details, and to check out the interactive map, visit https://bit.ly/4jeCgEP.

A billionaire entrepreneur and Bergen County native has pledged his latest commitment to the education field by donating a record $100 million to his namesake building at Cornell University, the school announced.

David Duffield, who grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus and attended Ridgewood High School before graduating from Cornell, invested the nine-figure amount to "significantly expand" the existing Duffield Hall at the college, Cornell said in a news release Monday.

The financial commitment, the largest in the history of the university's engineering program, will create a new home for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as new lab space for research priorities. Construction is set to begin this year and be completed in 2027.

"I was fortunate as a student at Cornell to be introduced to early mainframe computers and the quickly changing nature of technology," Duffield said in a statement. "This opportunity laid the foundation for my career, and I’m pleased to give back by supporting the education of future generations of engineers and innovators."

Duffield, 84, is the founder of six business software companies, including PeopleSoft and Workday. Previous donations to his alma mater have supported multiple programs on campus, most notably the completion of Duffield Hall in 2004.

"Dave Duffield is an extraordinary philanthropist and a truly visionary Cornellian," said Cornell interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. "His generosity has already immeasurably enhanced the quality of the university’s research, education, and campus life, and he continues to find and pursue new avenues for advancing Cornell’s mission."

The $100 million donation is the latest philanthropic effort from Duffield, who has a net worth of approximately $14.4 billion, to one of the schools he attended.

In December 2022, Duffield donated $10 million to Ho-Ho-Kus schools − the largest in the district's history − for construction of a new school gymnasium unveiled in September. He also provided a $635,000 alumni gift in 2021 for STEAM programs at Ridgewood High School, where he graduated in 1958.