I know – I’ve been delinquent in writing lately. But I’ve been a little ill, a lot tired, and very busy. Hopefully, the first two on my list of excuses has eased a bit. And I mean a bit.

But this post is not about me.

This past weekend, our region was hit with the worst Nor’easter in 15 years. We had over 7 inches of rain that flooded streams and rivers…and where is that water supposed to go?

New Milford was hit with horrendous flooding, as were many communities here in Northern New Jersey. Lodi and Bound Brook got most of the news coverage – and deservedly so.

However, here in New Milford, we got hit hard, too. Hundreds of families were evacuated. If you know of the Prospect Street park near Saint Matthew’s, the water was so high, it was just below the rims on the basketball hoops, which stand upwards of 10 feet above the ground. This flood stretched straight through New Milford. The high school football field could have been used for water polo. Evacuations were done via motor boat. These were scenes that we only see on television newscasts, scenes rarely every seen in Northern New Jersey. But it was happening in our New Milford.

Our police chief said the flooding was worse than Hurricane Floyd a few years ago.

Standing at River Road, I could not believe my eyes as I looked south. Where there were once homes and a roadway, there was now just water, flowing as if there was nothing wrong. I could only think of the families whose homes were now underwater. I could only think of those families from throughout our community who were devastated.

Here at church, we were without lights for a good chunk of Monday. I don’t know when the lights came back on since I was out trying to see how people were doing. Not that I could do anything tangible.

But the people who did something should be commended. What more can we say about our police officers who worked to protect? What more can be said about our public works employees who tried everything to prepare our community for the coming rain and worked overtime to start the clean up process? And county emergency workers who jumped in to help the displaced and try to help them rebuild their lives.

However, there are volunteers in our midst who went out and spent the past couple of days serving and protecting. Our volunteer fire fighters were on calls all Sunday night, all Monday, and even this  Tuesday morning. They rescued people trapped in homes and helped others pump water out of their basements. I watched them late last night from the parsonage as they returned to the fire house here on Center Street. They looked tired.

And the first responders, also volunteers, were out all night and day as well. They helped rescue and treat the sick and the scared. They, too, looked like they could sleep for days.

It tells you something about a community where people give their free time to protect and serve. It tells you something about a community where people risk their lives to keep their community safe. And most especially, it tells you something about a community where a bunch of people act so selflessly to make sure that their neighbors are protected.

I can’t say anymore about these great men and women. While our New Milford is facing a long clean-up, we can only thank our Father in heaven for these volunteers, these police officers, and these boro workers who worked harder than hard to make this home of ours the best place to live in New Jersey.