A large pile of leaves sits curbside Tuesday morning on a stretch of South Street that has had issues with flooding over the past year. Narrow storm drain openings were replaced with wider ones to address the problem. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
It’s gonna rain. Maybe a lot. So get the darn leaves out of the way.
That’s our way of summing up an alert sent out by the Borough of Red Bank with a National Weather Service forecast calling for up to 2.5 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. With giant piles of leaves still lining curbs from Chapin Ave to Harrison Avenue, storm drains could get clogged.
From the borough’s alert:
To assist us in minimizing potential flooding and ensuring effective drainage, we kindly request your cooperation with the following:
-
Do not block storm drains.
- Do not place leaves curbside if they have already been collected in your area. This will help avoid additional accumulation that could impede drainage or create hazards.
According to the Department of Public Utilities’ 2024 bulletin, there shouldn’t be any leaf piles by the curb east of Broad Street for this storm at all. Leaf collection is scheduled for the third Thursday of the month east of Broad, and residents are not permitted to place leaves at the curb more than seven days before pickup.
Leaf collection on the west side is the second Thursday of the month, which is this Thursday. Click here to read the rules. Or you could just enjoy a rare instance in which being completely lazy also makes you a model citizen and follow the borough’s advice to leave the leaves.
As for that forecast, it’s a soggy one. Here it is.
Tuesday night: Periods of rain, mainly after 10pm. Patchy fog. Low around 51. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
