Residents in a Manville neighborhood damaged by Hurricane Ida last year say that there is now a rat infestation.

There are homes that have been abandoned since the storm hit in 2021. And now the rats have arrived.

“You can’t set up four little traps around one little house and expect something to happen,” says Allan Polak, of Manville.

Residents say they first noticed the rats in the spring coming out of an empty home.

Joao Rebimbas filmed some of the rats. He says that they are the only explanation for the holes in his fence. Behind his yard is another mess of a property with overgrown grass. He says he left Elizabeth for the suburbs because of rats.

And Rebimbas is not the only one who is shocked.

"You're not expecting to have rat problems. You expect to have rabbits and other animals, but not rats,” says resident Kenneth Gorman.

Ida killed 30 people in New Jersey - more than any other state. And the storm left parts of Manville damaged. The town is surrounded by the Raritan and Millstone rivers. Residents say neighboring towns are overdeveloped, compounding the problem.

Manville has a history of flooding, but residents say the rat problem is new.

The mayor insists the abandoned homes will be gone demolished. He says he will keep pressuring the state. He says a rat was spotted coming from a garage where people actually live, and he says he's trying to get a county health inspector to investigate