BRICK-New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is expected to visit Brick Township on Friday to assess damages caused by this week’s flooding in the Greenbriar development.
His visit comes as the township is wrangling with a $1.1 million school aid cut signed into law earlier this year by the Murphy administration.
Murphy is expected to meet with his local political ally, Mayor John Ducey and to visit with residents of Greenbriar.
In the aftermath of the flooding, the township is asking residents for a damage assessment with the promise of possible financial assistance for residents.
“Brick Residents who sustained damage from Monday’s storm should contact the Brick Township Building Department at 732-262-1234,” the township said. “Please leave a message with the following information: Name, address, phone #, amount of water, and monetary value of damage. The Township is working on a Preliminary Damage Assessment Report to the State for possible financial assistance for our residents.”
At this time, some residents in the community are blaming the never before seen level of flooding in Greenbriar on the state’s clearing of trees on the nearby Garden State Parkway.
County officials this week contested that notion, stating the new exit 91, built adjacent to Greenbriar had nothing to do with the historic level of flooding.
That reassurance was not good enough for Republican state senators James Holzapfel and Gregory McGuckin.
“The flooding in Greenbriar is unlike anything previously experienced, including during Sandy,” Holzapfel said. “We’re concerned that the GSP Exit 91 reconfiguration has made the area susceptible to flooding. NJDOT needs to investigate & undertake any needed improvements.”
More than 100 homes in and around the Greenbriar I senior community were flooded during a torrential downpour on Monday, August 13th, forcing the evacuation of residents.
“It’s a little suspicious that Greenbriar can go five decades without this kind of flooding, including during Superstorm Sandy, but it’s suddenly underwater a year after the adjacent Exit 91 project was completed,” said Assemblyman David Wolfe. “We need to know if changes to the grading or drainage in the area led to this flooding, and we need a plan to prevent it from happening again.”
“Residents who lived through years of disruptive construction as Exit 91 was completed now live in fear that the next storm might flood them out of their homes again,” added McGuckin. “We need to determine if this was a freak event that’s unlikely to happen again, or if it’s a direct result of the engineering of the interchange. If there’s something we can fix, we need to find out, and we need to do it immediately.”
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