‘Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous’: Monday’s heavy rain, burst pipe cause flooding conditions inside Paterson homes

Monday's one-two punch of rain and wind worsened already concerning conditions in Paterson for two families whose backyards and basements flooded after a sinkhole was made worse by a burst pipe.

News 12 Staff

Dec 1, 2020, 1:48 PM

Updated 1,412 days ago

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Monday's one-two punch of rain and wind worsened already concerning conditions in Paterson for two families whose backyards and basements flooded after a sinkhole was made worse by a burst pipe.
The sinkhole formed on Linwood Avenue. The storms likely caused a pipe to burst, and in turn, caused an already existing sinkhole to get much worse. The families living in the two homes say that this has been a problem for several months and that every time it rains, it gets worse.
The Pilar and Deleon families say Monday around 1 p.m., there was at least three inches of water in their backyards.
"This is not one family affected,” says Melissa Pilar. “This is multiple families that have lived here for years affected by those who pay taxes, who pay mortgages, who work hard every day, to be affected by something that the town says is 'not my problem.' Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”
Resident Jasmine Deleon says that her family can hear the ground moving under her home.
“We can even hear the tumbling rocks under the house trembling the house,” says Jasmine Deleon. “So, you would be in the middle of doing something and you have no idea what's going on under the house.”
It was unclear which town is responsible for making the repairs. It could be Paterson or Wayne Township, which has a construction site up the street which may have affected a burst pipe.
The Pilar family says that they will have to wait until Thursday to get a report from Paterson officials.