Hurricane Flooding a 'Passed' Test for Pine Brook Resident

Seven months after the tropical storm from Hurricane Irene flooded out his home, Pine Brook resident Bob Dudek reflected and summed up the storm event as a giant test.

“It tested your marriage; it tested your relationships,” said Dudek. “You find out who your friends are and who your friends aren’t.”

Dudek said the flooding was similar to how one may respond to a death in the family.

“You don’t know how you are going to react until it happens,” he said.

Dudek, along with his wife, Elaine, and son, Rob, were among about two dozen families who were affected by unexpected flooding after the initial storm had passed. Changebridge, Woodmont and Normandy Roads, Sheffield Street and Walnut Drive were some of the streets hardest-hit by the sudden flooding shortly after the town’s emergency center had closed because it seemed the effects of Hurricane Irene were diminishing. Not living in a flood zone, most of the families in that area were caught off guard, Dudek said, and without flood insurance.

Dudek said he considered the flooding a challenge that his family overcame together, despite little help, he said, from either the township or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He said that the family only received $900 in aid from FEMA for the replacement of a washer and dryer. While Dudek said he was grateful for the aid they did receive, financially, the storm was a “crusher.”

Despite the circumstances, Dudek said they have been able to move on and rebuild.

“It took an act of God to remodel our house because our house would have never been re-done. That’s the only good thing that came out of this,” he said.

With the entire basement and first floor needed to be remodeled, from new floors and appliances to a new bathroom and kitchen. The family even had to purchase a new hot water heater and water softener because of the water damage.

But Dudek said the biggest issue was mold. Because of the mold, all new furniture also had to be purchased.

“It crawls up the wall like something out of a horror movie,” said Dudek. “Once the mold set in, you couldn’t work fast enough and there’s not enough ammonia to try to clean mold. It’s a lost cause.”

While Dudek said his family is pretty much back to normal, other families in the neighborhood have not fared as well.

“There are still about seven or eight houses empty,” he said. “People just walked away.”

There was no time to think in August, Dudek said, and the flood was a learning experience. The Dudek family was offered three years of flood insurance through FEMA and now the family also has sump pump insurance, which will insure all their private property if the sump pump fails for any reason, including a power outage.

Dudek said his life has returned to a sense of normalcy, but that the flood is still “like an 800-pound gorilla in the room” with many neighbors not wanting to talk about it. The other consequence is that people become nervous and “hold their breath” when it rains for more than a day or two, he added.

“Now it’s not if, it’s when,” said Dudek, referring to the possibility of another flood. “We are preparing for the worst. If it doesn’t come we will be really happy.”