A state of emergency has been declared Tuesday for New Jersey ahead of an incoming storm that will bring downpours, river flooding and damaging winds.

Mayors from Pompton Lakes, Little Falls, Wayne, Pequannock Township and Lincoln Park asked New Jersey officials for the flood gates to be opened before the storm. However. the Department of Environmental Protection and Gov. Phil Murphy denied the request to open the floodgates to release water before the storm.

Officials say opening the flood gates is not considered an effective preventative measure in reducing downstream flood risk, and they do not want to put out a false sense of security and undermine the actual flood risk.

Residents in towns like Little Falls are concerned because this will most likely be their second damaging flood event in less than 20 days.

Pequannock Township anticipates Route 23 will flood at some point between early Wednesday to early Thursday and will be closed for an unknown amount of time.