> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://john-mangini.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Flash flooding hit the Watchung Hills area July 14, and Warren went looking for federal money - URL: https://john-mangini.ghost.io/july-2025-flooding-fema/ - Published: 2025-07-18T13:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-19T17:08:37.000Z - Description: NOAA logged flash flooding in Watchung, Green Brook, Bound Brook and Manville on July 14, 2025, and no point report for Warren Township. The Township Committee discussed its own response and a possible FEMA reimbursement on July 17. - Author: John Mangini - Tags: Warren 07059, Community, flooding, emergency management, township committee, fema The short answer NOAA's Storm Events Database logs flash flooding across Somerset County on July 14, 2025 in Watchung, Green Brook, Bound Brook and Manville, with $30,000 in property damage recorded at Green Brook and $15,000 at Manville. The database carries no Warren Township specific flood event for that date. At the July 17 Township Committee meeting, Mayor Lontai said Representative Tom Kean would meet with the White House the next day to see whether Warren's damages qualified for FEMA reimbursement. Whether any FEMA assistance was granted to Warren or its residents could not be verified. Start with what the federal record actually says, because the difference between "the area flooded" and "Warren flooded" matters when the question is who pays for it. ## What NOAA logged, and where NOAA's Storm Events Database records the following flash flood events across Somerset County on July 14, 2025. | Location | Time | Recorded property damage | | ----------- | --------- | ------------------------ | | Watchung | 4:30 p.m. | not stated | | Watchung | 4:45 p.m. | not stated | | Green Brook | 4:45 p.m. | not stated | | Green Brook | 6:00 p.m. | $30,000 | | Bound Brook | 5:00 p.m. | not stated | | Manville | 7:20 p.m. | $15,000 | The cause was an approaching cold front that set off showers and thunderstorms. The USGS Green Brook gauge at Seeley Mills and the USGS Stony Brook gauge at Watchung both exceeded flood stage. ## The Warren caveat, stated plainly NOAA logs no Warren Township specific flood event for July 14, 2025\. Every named point report in the county that afternoon is in Watchung, Green Brook, Bound Brook or Manville. All four border Warren or sit near it. That is not the same as saying nothing happened in Warren. The Storm Events Database is built from point reports that reach the National Weather Service, and an absence of a report is an absence of a report. But I am not going to write that Warren flooded on the strength of a Watchung entry, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does. What follows is what the township said about its own response. ## What the Township Committee said on July 17 Committeeman Blick praised the response of Office of Emergency Management Director Brandon Sebastian, including the cooling stations that were opened. Deputy Mayor Croson said road paving was delayed one to two weeks by the storms. Mayor Lontai said she was in contact with Assemblywoman Matsikoudis, and that Representative Tom Kean would meet with the White House the next day to see whether Warren's damages qualified for FEMA reimbursement. A resident of 72 Mount Bethel Road spoke about storm erosion on his property. What I could not verify Whether FEMA assistance was ever granted to Warren Township or to its residents is not something I could confirm. The record I worked from establishes that the township was asking. It does not establish an outcome. If you are a resident who took damage in July 2025, do not treat the mayor's statement as an assurance that a program existed for you. ## Ordinance 25-14, drinking on township property The same meeting produced a genuine change in how Warren uses its public land. Ordinance 25-14 was adopted 5-0\. It amends Chapter 3, General Police Regulations, at section 3-5.3, to permit consumption of intoxicating beverages on township owned property when approved by the Township Committee. The approval requirement is the operative part. This is not a general permission. It is a mechanism that lets the Committee authorize it event by event. Rory Britt of Sneider Road, vice president of Wagner Farm Arboretum, and Greg Fitzgerald of Olsen Drive spoke in favor. ## The rest of the July 17 agenda Ordinance 25-15 was introduced 5-0, a $140,000 bond ordinance for vehicles and capital equipment with $130,000 in bonds or notes. The public hearing was set for August 21. Consent Resolutions 2025-186 through 2025-194 and 2025-196 through 2025-198 passed 5-0\. Among them were six month NJDOT extensions for King George Road Phase 2 and Mountainview Road Phase 1, and an extension of the third quarter tax grace period to August 21. The grace period extension is the item with the most direct effect on the most households. If your third quarter bill was in that window, August 21 was the date that mattered. Committeeman Blick announced that the MyWarren township app was live. Two new officers, James Reydel and Brittney Jozowski, were sworn in. ## The foxes Committeeman Fine reported three fox attacks in the Greenwood Meadows neighborhood, and said the township was hiring a service to track foxes. I am reporting that as what a committeeman told a public meeting. The only source for it is the minutes. I found no contemporaneous news coverage confirming the attacks, the number of them, or the tracking service, and I am not going to dress up a single minute entry as an established fact. If you live in Greenwood Meadows and want to know the current status, the township is the place to ask. ## How to read a storm record There is a practical lesson buried in the gap between the NOAA entries and the township discussion. Federal disaster money follows documented damage. The documentation comes from municipal damage assessments, county reporting and, eventually, a federal declaration that names specific counties. A neighboring town's flood report does not carry your claim. If you took damage in a storm, photograph it, keep the receipts and report it to the township at the time. That record is what a later assessment draws on. A recollection two years afterward is not. Sources 1. NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database, Somerset County NJ, July 2025\. [https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 2. Township of Warren, Township Committee Minutes, July 17, 2025\. [https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/\_07172025-890](https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/%5F07172025-890?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 3. Township of Warren, 2025 Adopted Ordinances. [https://www.warrennj.org/589/2025-Adopted-Ordinances](https://www.warrennj.org/589/2025-Adopted-Ordinances?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) John Mangini Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier Warren Township resident and full time broker. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above. [102 Town Center Drive, Warren, NJ 07059](https://johnmangini.com/?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) | 732.236.1087 | [john@nexthomepremier.com](mailto:john@nexthomepremier.com)