NJ storms, floods, landslide spur Murphy to declare emergency

☔ Gov. Murphy has declared a State of Emergency due to severe weather

☔ Heavy rains caused a landslide and flooding

☔ More than 950 flights out of local airports were canceled Sunday

A state of emergency has been declared for New Jersey amid intense damage from storms, Gov. Phil Murphy announced.

The State of Emergency was active as of 4 p.m. Sunday, according to Murphy. The declaration aids state agencies are they move to help areas impacted by heavy rains, flooding, and even landslides.

"Throughout the state, we have seen heavy rainfalls resulting in hazardous conditions and we urge residents to remain vigilant around flooded roadways and downed trees and power lines. The safety of our residents is our main priority, and we recommend everyone to be informed of local weather conditions and to take necessary precautions," Murphy said.

Heavy rainfalls caused a landslide in Warren County Sunday morning. Route 46 was closed around 8:30 a.m. between Route 94/Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge and Manunka Chunk Road/Upper Serapta Road due to the soil, stones, trees, and other debris, according to the state Department of Transportation.

New Jersey was expected to mostly "dry out" excepted for an isolated shower overnight into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service Mount Holly office.

Around 63,000 JCP&L customers were without power though not all at once, spokesman Chris Hoenig said. A tree recently fell in North Jersey causing a small brief spike but once that situation is handled, it's expected that less than 2,000 people will be without power.

However, hundreds of customers in Warren County may not have power restored until Monday, Hoenig said. Within areas served by JCP&L, Warren County was by far the area hardest hit by the storms.

Local conditions including flooding, road washouts, collapsed roads, and land and mudslides are making it impossible for crews to make repairs in parts of the county.

"Timing of restoration here depends on a number of factors, individual to each customer – when are roads rebuilt, when are individual properties inhabitable, when is flood mitigation completed in these individual properties, etc.," Hoenig said.

Flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport have been affected by the weather. More than 392 flights had been delayed Sunday as of 7:45 p.m. with other 362 flights canceled, reported FlightAware. LaGuardia had 272 cancellations with 314 delays and JFK Airport had 325 cancellations with 467 total delays at the same time.

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