Passaic will use federal funds to reduce flash flooding at culvert where two died in 2021

PASSAIC — The city will use the $1.6 million in federal funds recently approved to continue its "green, holistic approach" to reduce flash floods in and around McDanold's Brook and the culvert near where Benson and Main avenues meet.

More than 2? years ago, two young adults died in that area when raging storm runoff from the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept them into the culvert and eventually to the Passaic River, where their bodies were found days later.

The goal is to use the funds to improve drainage and implement green solutions such as planting trees to reduce stormwater runoff, said Mayor Hector Lora.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, helped the city secure the funds.

"Directing federal money to address McDanold's Brook and Benson Avenue flooding was a major priority for Passaic, and I am very gratified my office was able to secure $1.6 million," Pascrell said. "The deaths of Nidhi Rana and Ayush Rana during Hurricane Ida has haunted me and a lot of our neighbors."

Over the years, the city has made improvements to the area by desilting or desnagging sections of the brook, which runs through the city's Third Ward Park.

Most recently Lora said he had the city create a parking lot near the local animal shelter, where water collects in three stormwater inlets before it reaches the brook.

Before the work, water runoff that came down Benson Avenue contributed to the raging runoff from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that swept away best friends Nidhi Rana, 18, and Ayush Rana, 21.

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The new lot has significantly reduced much of the runoff, Passaic Fire Chief Pat Trentacost said.

"There is still is a concern when we receive heavy downpours over a course of a short time, but certainly it is noticeably better drainage since the parking lot and piping were installed," Trentacost said.

Federal grant for Passaic

The federal grant will be used to remove much of the impervious surface along Benson Avenue.

The plan, Lora said, is to remove the existing two-lane street with a grass median down the middle. Grass and trees will be planted along the abandoned tarmac and the street will become a single lane, two-way street.

"I was surprised to learn that maple trees and not willows were the most water-absorbent," Lora said.

History of loss at the culvert

On Aug. 1, 1970, a 10-year-old Passaic boy was swept by a flash flood into Passaic's McDanold's Brook, where he drowned.

In July 2020, a food delivery driver was swept away for about a mile under the city of Passaic during a flash flood. She was carried by the Passaic River and survived. Local authorities called her survival "miraculous."

In 2022, a Passaic boy barely escaped being swept away by raging stormwaters. All the incidents took place during flash floods around the area of Benson and Main avenues.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic using funds to reduce flooding where two died in 2021