Green Brook Flood Control Project - Floodings During The Project

Floodings During The Project

The Green Brook Flood Control project has languished for decades due to a lack of federal funding. Hurricane Floyd in 1999 caused yet more property damage and deaths in the Green Brook basin, especially in Bound Brook, and reinvigorated the flood control project. As of 2006, two levees have been built on the western and eastern sides of Bound Brook. An important levee (R2) on the southwestern side of Bound Brook, which would prevent the Raritan River from flooding the downtown and nearby residential areas, is 99% completed as of September 2011. Full 150 year protection of downtown and nearby residential areas of Bound Brook will not be in place until closure gates are constructed and fully functional at two locations on the western and southern sides of Bound Brook, which is expected by the end of the summer of 2012.

The April Nor'easter of 2007 flooded Bound Brook with the second highest crest ever recorded in the area, as the envisioned flood protection systems were not yet fully in place. However, the April 2007 flooding did reinvigorate efforts to complete the flood levee protection system around Bound Brook, to protect it from future flooding.

Flooding of downtown occurred in August 2011 when Hurricane Irene passed along the East Coast.