In Flash Flood, Donnie Bails Out Water Street

When flood waters started stranding cars Friday, Donnie Guest grabbed his rake. He knew just where to go.

Guest (pictured in top photo), a Department of Public Works (DPW) staffer, joined a crew of city workers and civilian rescuers who swung into action Friday afternoon as flash floods wreaked havoc on city streets.

The informal crew has gotten used to the drill in the past couple of months, as flash floods snarled traffic, dislodged manhole covers and, in some places, sent sewage backing up into streets and homes.

The rainwater strained the city’s sewer system, popping off manholes in several notoriously flood-prone spots across town.

Police shut down Union Avenue between the train station and the Rt. 34 overpass around 2 p.m. Water had dislodged a manhole cover on the street near police department headquarters, sending murky water rushing into the street.

The water flooded not just the street, but the sidewalks leading away from the train station. Pedestrians rolled up their pants, and even took off their shoes, to wade through.

“Are you kidding me?” one pedestrian said as she stepped into the flooded sidewalk.

When Shannon Curry disembarked from a train from Washington D.C., she waded through thigh-high water to reach her friend, who was going to drive her to Killingworth.

“I’m just hoping this isn’t sewage!” Curry said as she slogged across the street.

Flooding also hit nearby Meadow Street and South Orange Street, where cops had to tow a few police cruisers to safety, according to Lt. Jeff Hoffman.

Jennifer Rivera and Karen Droz (pictured) left the Board of Education at 54 Meadow St. around 2:30 p.m. to find the way to their cars flooded.

Rivera took off her shoes. They joined hands as they waded towards home. 

Reports from the police radio indicated that manhole covers were lifting off at other locations around town, including a perennial favorite of flash floods: the corner of Whalley and West Rock avenues in Westville.

By 2:30 p.m., the rain had slowed to a drizzle and the flood waters were receding.

City spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton said pumps on Dean Street had been started as a precaution. Morris Causeway had been flooded with two feet of water, Benton said. She said Rt. 34, eastbound and westbound had been closed due to flooding but were improving as of 2:50 p.m. Eastbound Rt. 34 reopened just before 3 p.m. Westbound was still closed at that time.

Two drivers got stranded on Water Street, as flood waters filled the intersection with Olive Street.

At 2:45 p.m., Nestor Calderon sat in his 2010 Honda Civic awaiting rescue. He said his engine had cut out, and it wouldn’t turn over. None of the trucks that passed offered to help him, he grumbled. He was waiting for his dad to come give him a push.

A few minutes later, a voice called out from across the lapping waves of the intersection.

“You want a push?” called out Brandon Stewart.

Stewart got into his ​“Ford Crown Vic, police package,” which is equipped with a special bumper meant for situations like these.

He crossed the intersection, wove his way between a city truck and a Greyhound Bus, and easily pushed Calderon’s car to safety.

It turned out the two know each other: They’re both security guards with Elite Security.

“OK, where’s my 20 dollars,” joked Stewart after the rescue.

Meanwhile, a short distance away, another driver was negotiating the price of his own rescue. The driver, who declined to give his name, said he had been stranded for an hour.

“I almost made it” around the corner, he said. He was trying to make it home to Prospect. It turned out his insurance company would cover only so many miles worth of towing. He got two offers: pay $160 and wait half an hour, or pay $60 and wait an hour. He opted for the latter.

“That Clogs All The Time”

As the drivers negotiated their trips to the mechanic, Donnie Guest and his crew set to work remedying the source of their headaches.

Guest jumped off a DPW truck holding a red rake. He went right to the storm drain that had kept the rainwater from flowing to the sea. Though the entire sidewalk and street was covered in knee-high water, Guest said he knew just where to go.

“That clogs all the time,” he said of the offending storm drain at the corner of Olive and Water. He poked his rake at the debris that had piled up under the water. Soon, the water began to swirl.

Guest said Water Street was his last stop of the day — he and his crew had already visited Union Avenue. There, they left the manhole covers off until the water went down. Then, he explained, they rolled them back on.

The street should be back to normal soon, Guest predicted around 3 p.m.: Once the catch basin is clear, ​“it usually drains out pretty quick.”

Crushed

The sudden storm was powerful enough to uproot a tree on Whittlesey Avenue off Whalley Avenue. The tree in turn uprooted the sidewalk — and smashed a Mitsubishi Galant (pictured) parked directly below.

The car’s owner, who lives on the street, was at work at the Five Guys restaurant. Someone called her; she rushed to the scene, crushed at the state of her vehicle.

Paul Bass contributed reporting.