RUMSON: DRIVER RESCUED FROM FLOODING

RUMSON flood 120914 1 A car sits in the center of Waterman Avenue, its emergency lights still flashing, moments after its driver was rescued Tuesday morning. Below, a pickup truck abandoned near the boat ramp on Avenue of Two Rivers. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

RUMSON flood 120914 2One motorist was rescued and another abandoned his inundated truck as the worst flooding to hit Rumson since Hurricane Sandy swamped low-lying areas of Rumson, police Chief Scott Paterson said Tuesday.

Borough police rescued an unidentified female motorist from her car after it became stuck in floodwaters on Waterman Avenue at about 11 a.m. Paterson tells redbankgreen.

The driver appeared to have misjudged the depth of water as she headed south toward the rising Shrewsbury River, an officer on the scene said.

On the Navesink River side of town, a pickup truck was abandoned after its owner apparently tried to move it from the municipal boat ramp, where it had been parked, and became stuck just a few feet away, at the end of Avenue of Two Rivers, Paterson said. The driver walked away and police had not been able to contact him as of noon, he said.

Those were the only emergencies reported in the borough in the aftermath of storm-driven rain and a high tide at around 10 a.m., which Paterson said was “the most significant we’ve seen” since Sandy.

By noon, the downpour had abated, though weather forecasters continued to warn of dangerous winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 55 MPH until 4 p.m.

A coastal flood watch remained in effect until 1 p.m., the National Weather Service said.