Madison Still Cleaning Up Mess From Weekend Storm

Department of Public Works crews wrapped up this afternoon the removal of a large tree that came down across Fairwood Road in the storm this weekend.

Director David Maines said the tree damaged three cars and a homeowner's garage.

Acting Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said in addition to the fallen tree, the fire department has been pumping basements around the borough pretty much continuously since the storm began Friday night.

"The sad thing is we will continue the next few days with cleanups," he said. "We'll be busy tonight."

The storm also wreaked havoc in other areas of Madison. Trees were blown on NJ Transit lines this weekend causing delays to service. Power also went out at Madison High School, though power was up as usual by the time classes started on Monday. Sanitary sewer backups were also causes of some residential flooding problems on Cook Avenue and North Street over the weekend.

On the electricity end of things, Madison has been spared to a large extent. Electric Utility Superintendent Michael Piano reported to Administrator Ray Codey that the borough only had 40 power outages over the weekend. Those were directly related to the fallen tree on Fairview Road and fallen trees that caused the high school's outage. All power has been restored.

As bad as things have been in the borough, other Morris County towns suffered worse damage. The flooding is so bad in Lincoln Park, that the county fire coordinator has requested aid from surrounding municipalities.

The Madison Fire Department will be sending five members, made up from the career and volunteer corps, with an engine to cover Lincoln Park's fire duties while its department continues with clean-up duties tonight.

If you have photos or stories to share, e-mail editor Rick Burchfield at rick@patch.com.