SPARTA, N.J. - As much as a foot of rain fell on northern New Jersey on Saturday, flooding roads and collapsing two bridges. Some residents were evacuated from their homes.
Flash flood watches were posted for much of New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York and Connecticut, the National Weather Service said.
A state of emergency was declared in Sparta, where more than 12 inches of rain fell.
Some residents had to be evacuated from the north central New Jersey town, as well as from nearby Ogdensburg and Lake Hopatcong. Police said they had several reports of people stranded on top of submerged cars.
The National Guard sent trucks and troops to help emergency officials reach flooded areas.
Eight to 10 inches of rain fell in a few hours in the area, the Morris County Sheriff's Department said.
Fallen power lines left about 10,000 customers without electricity, said Sue Hohenadel, a spokeswoman for the utility GPU. Lightning blacked out several hundred customers of PSE&G, utility spokesman Don Tretola said.
In New York's Sullivan County, about 60 miles northwest of New York City, a state of emergency was declared after mudslides and flooding occurred along the Delaware and Neversink rivers, Sheriff Det. Ed Simon said. At least a dozen roads were closed.
Nearly 8 inches of rain fell in southwestern Connecticut, where authorities said several motorists had to be rescued from vehicles stalled in deep water, including a police car and three ambulances.
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