New Milford Residents Asked to Limit Water Use

Borough officials are asking residents to curb all non-essential water use on Sunday as New Milford's sewer system has become "overburdened," according to NMPD Chief Frank Papapietro.

"As a result of the increase in water volume created by Hurricane Irene the borough's sewer system has become overburdened," said Papapietro in a message to residents. "Residents are asked to limit non essential water use, meaning water not used for sanitation purposes, throughout the day."

Papapietro said overnight there were some sporadic road closures and there are two main roads closed as of Sunday morning in New Milford--New Bridge Road west of River Road and River Edge Road at River Road. 

"Twenty one families self-evacuated and we have had no requests for emergency evacuations," said Papapietro. "Many trees and branches came down, bringing with them wires and there have been many sewer backups."

PSE&G reported Sunday morning that between 500 and 2,000 borough residents were without power as of Sunday morning.

Papapietro said he and other borough officials were closely watching the river, as high tide won't arrive on the Hackensack River until 9:18 a.m.

The US Geological Service measured the Hackensack River at New Milford at 5.63 feet at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday which is just shy of the flood stage of six feet. 

The National Weather Service issued a Hurricane Warning, Flood Warning and Watch and Hazardous Weather Outlook for Bergen County.

Here is the forecast from the NWS for New Milford:

Sunday: Tropical storm conditions, with hurricane conditions possible. Rain and possibly a thunderstorm before 4pm, then rain likely. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. North wind 35 to 45 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. 

Sunday night: A chance of rain, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 58. Windy, with a west wind 23 to 26 mph decreasing to between 9 and 12 mph. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 81. West wind around 9 mph. 

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.