A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Aug. 15, 2016, in Bound Brook to celebrate the completion of the Bound Brook portion of the $330 million Green Brook Flood Damage Reduction Project.
BOUND BROOK -- Mayor Robert Fazen still remembers the day his borough was underwater and he awoke to helicopters hovering overhead documenting the carnage. It was September 1999 and Tropical Storm Floyd had left many parts of the town underwater.
"Downtown Bound Brook was like a war zone with flooded businesses and apartments and out of control fires," Fazen said in a news release announcing a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the borough's flood protection project. "Police were in motor boats navigating the flooded streets rescuing residents from second story apartments.
"Cars were floating down Main Street and fire department boats were moored to street lamp poles, hosing down store fires. The rescue continued for days and the physical recovery took months. The mental state of Bound Brook was changed. We all wondered if our downtown would ever recover."
The borough, which was later devastated again by a 2007 Nor'easter, has made a comeback for the ages. It will celebrate its rebirth on Aug. 15 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. at Billian Legion Park to celebrate the completion of the Bound Brook portion of the $330 million Green Brook Flood Damage Reduction Project.
No longer will residents be consumed with anxiety when the forecast calls for heavy rains, fearing floodwaters will engulf their homes, according to the news release, which went on to state no longer will their flood insurance premiums keep them financially underwater.
Flood prevention protects against Irene
Once completed, the project, which was started in 2000 by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, is expected to provide comprehensive flood protection to the entire Green Brook Basin that covers 65 square miles and includes 14 municipalities in Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties, it was stated in the the release.
In Bound Brook, the $100 million system of levees around three sides of the borough, flood gates and pumping stations have resulted in approximately 500 residences and businesses once located in flood zones no longer being required to have flood insurance. The annual insurance cost to homeowners was between $4,000 and $5,000 a year, Fazen said.
Fazen said the change in flood zone designation could result in a 15- to 20-percent increase in property values and spark a renewed interest in development for the 1.7-square-mile borough.
Fazen said plans for 300 new apartments have been approved by the zoning board and another 700 new apartments are in the planning stages. He said expects the population to grow 10 to 20 percent from its approximately 10,000.
The basin is a depression in the land surface that experiences flooding from the Raritan River and its tributaries, the Middle Brook, Green Brook, Bound Brook and Stony Brook during heavy rain and storm events.
Bound Brook partially lies on lies on a natural flood plain of the Raritan River at the junction of the Green Brook and Raritan River.
"The residents of Bound Brook are ecstatic," said Fazen. "We always had the threat of flooding in our minds. With this project, residents feel a sense of safety."
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.