Heavy rainfall causes flooding across South Jersey and travel headaches at PHL

Updated 2 hours ago
GLASSBORO, N.J. (WPVI) -- Heavy rain caused flooding across parts of South Jersey on Thursday, leaving some roads impassable, damaging vehicles and disrupting air travel at Philadelphia International Airport.

Hours after the rain stopped, some roadways remained flooded.

In Washington Township, part of Delsea Drive near Pitman-Downer Road had turned into a pond on Thursday evening.



In Gloucester City, residents said intense rainfall quickly overwhelmed storm drains.



"It's from the rain coming down so hard that it's blocking the sewage system, and it has raised up to three feet, four feet and it just went down," Sara O'Brien, founder of Community Rocks, a community art center on King Street, said.

O'Brien said she and other residents cleared storm drains and set up barriers to prevent people from driving through the flooded roadway.

"Every single time it rains this hard now, every time it floods, I have to call out the guards; all the kids come out. Literally this is how we protect the neighborhood," O'Brien said.

At Rowan University in Glassboro, floodwaters spread into parking lots and damaged several vehicles, including one owned by Laura Deeley, a nurse practitioner at the student health center.

"I left work and I came out here to get my car and go home and my car was underwater," Deeley said.



Matthew McMonagle of Blackwood said he discovered his vehicle had been partially submerged while he was helping a friend move in. By the time he returned, the water had receded. But other drivers alerted him to what had happened.

"Before I turn it on, they go, 'Your car was underwater.' I was like, 'Oh, really?' And then they showed me the pictures, and I was like, I don't really care about wet. As long as it starts, that's all I care about. Turn it on - didn't start," McMonagle said.

Flooding also affected the lobby of one residence hall, though no student rooms were damaged. Videos posted on social media appeared to show flooding at off-campus housing locations. The university said student move-in and Welcome Week activities would continue as planned.

The storm also disrupted air travel. A ground stop at Philadelphia International Airport lasted for hours, leading to hundreds of delays and cancellations. According to FlightAware, as of 9 p.m., the airport had recorded 391 delays and 254 cancellations.

Travelers at the airport described lengthy waits as flights were pushed back or canceled.



"By three hours. Yes, so here we are...waiting, nothing to do, just walking around seeing what we find," said Evelyn Castraguioar of Trenton when asked about her delay.

"About an hour, but everybody else on the shuttle's flight was getting cancelled, so fingers crossed that doesn't happen to me," said Cleo Krupa of Boston.

Rianna Velez and Alyssa Wygand of Allentown said they arrived at the airport at 11:00 a.m. for their 2:50 p.m. flight to Puerto Rico.

"2:50! And it's 7 p.m. And then it got delayed to 3:50 p.m., which is fine; it's just an hour, no biggie. It's 7:23, we're still in Pa., " they said.

Their flight was later canceled and rebooked for 6:30 a.m. the following morning, with an added stop in Atlanta.
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