From N.J. to North Carolina, Floyd Strands Thousands in Flood Waters

Tropical storm Floyd swirled up the Atlantic coast and into Canada on Friday, leaving behind flood waters so deep that thousands of people had to be plucked from roofs, tree limbs and car tops.

In New Jersey, the Raritan River surged to 14 feet above flood stage so rapidly that some homeowners in Bound Brook found even their attics weren’t high enough to provide safety. Boats and police helicopters from New York City were summoned to assist rescue operations. And in North Carolina, which saw the worst flooding in its history, officials mobilized a fleet of 35 helicopters to rescue about 1,500 people from rooftops Friday.

At least 28 deaths have been blamed on the storm that lashed the East Coast, and authorities warned that that number could increase when flood waters recede.

Although the storm had passed by, more than 1 million households in six states were without power Friday; utility companies said that many customers won’t have electricity during at least part of the weekend.

In New Jersey’s Bergen County, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, authorities asked residents without phone service to use fire alarm boxes in emergencies. Five police departments in the county had to evacuate their headquarters because of power failures, complicating the communications problem.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said as she toured Bound Brook, where three buildings burned amid the 10-foot-high flood waters that flowed down the main street. “People lost everything. It is devastating.”

More than 600 members of the National Guard and 400 state police were involved in the rescue effort, Whitman said. “They moved 800 people out of their homes here in Bound Brook between 4:30, 5 o’clock this morning and 10.”

New Jersey officials feared other rivers would crest well above flood stage, requiring additional evacuations.

President Clinton on Friday declared a federal emergency for nine hard-hit counties in the northern part of the state.

The New York-based Insurance Information Institute estimated overall damage from the storm at $800 million, not including property covered by flood insurance. New Jersey officials said damage there alone ranged well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

New York City was spared the damage seen elsewhere. Many streets were near-deserted when Floyd flew quickly through Thursday. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani had requested that businesses dismiss workers early, and many complied--catching subways, buses and commuter trains before the torrential rains arrived.

Awakening to bright blue skies and a chill in the air, some of those who left the city early scrambled to get to work on Friday. Service on portions of the Metro North commuter railroad was disrupted during the morning rush hour after flooding washed out 500 feet of track.

By Friday, states of emergency had been declared all along the East Coast. But Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Washington said that New Jersey and North Carolina had been hit the hardest. FEMA Director James Lee Witt traveled to North Carolina to survey the damage left by the 110-mph winds.

In the eastern part of the state, 15 inches of rain fell, causing severe flooding.

“What we’re trying to do is get people off of rooftops,” said Mark Van Schiver, a North Carolina emergency official.

Floyd dumped 20 inches of rain on Wilmington, N.C., where it came ashore as a hurricane before dawn on Thursday.

A day later, as a much weaker storm with 30-mph wind gusts, Floyd reached Canada, knocking out some power in the Montreal area.

As a footnote to Floyd, wildlife experts prepared to study the storm’s impact on bird migration and nesting. Some biologists believe several coastal species, including sandpipers and plovers, that were driven from their traditional feeding sites may move inland to take up residence in fields on farms.