Report: Auto Insurance Rate Hikes on Tap

Insurance companies blame 2011's Tropical Storm Irene, Halloween nor'easter — not Sandy — for highest in nation auto rate increase.

New Jersey motorists, who currently pay among the highest rates for auto insurance now, are going to have to dig a bit deeper into their wallets to pay for increases in auto insurance, according to published report Sunday. Insurers and state regulators are saying Hurricane Sandy, which devastated portions of the state including the Jersey Shore, is not the reason for state approving rate increases for 26 insurers thus far in 2013, according to a NorthJersey.com report. Instead, officials blame the rate increases on losses related to Tropical Storm Irene and the Halloween nor’easter from two years ago, medical costs that continue to rise, reinsurance expenses and dim forecasts of investment income, the report said. Allstate, New Jersey …

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Peggy Davison

1:17 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013

Thanks for the link Chris! After reading the article, I too am confused as to why our rates are so high, and rising. It simply does not make any sense!   more ›

Hurricane Sandy: Residents Prep for the Worst

Water, bread and batteries main supplies being purchased ahead of the storm.

Not again. Peter Del Rio has been flooded three times in the past two years. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do if it happens to him again. “It took us months to recover from Hurricane Irene. Now it could happen again,” said Del Rio has he put a case of bottled water outside of Foodtown in his car Friday night. “We can’t go through this again.” Del Rio was one of hundreds of people who packed grocery stores Friday night in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy. The “superstorm” is expected to drop several inches of rain on North Jersey as early as Sunday. Severe flooding and high winds are throughout the area is expected. “There’s still hope that it could blow out to sea but after what happened last year, I’m not taking any chances,” said …

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Hurricane Sandy Threat Has Responders Preparing

Wayne volunteer organization will meet Saturday to review incident action plan.

The Wayne Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) will hold an emergency meeting at Packanack Community Church on Saturday at 9 a.m. VOAD dedicates its time to help members of the community who were affected by an emergency, such as a flood or a fire. The group was formed immediately following Tropical Storms Irene and Lee last year. The group will review its incident action plan and prepare to respond in the event Hurricane Sandy significantly impacts Wayne. The National Weather Service forecasts that Sandy could hit New Jersey on Thursday. Rains and heavy winds could blanket the Garden State. “While it is too early to know what path the storm will take or how powerful it will be, this review will be an important periodic …

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Flooding Solution Needs to be Priority, Residents Say

Dozens of locals met with state officials to discuss ongoing plans to find a permanent remedy to flooding in the Passaic River Basin.

Constructing levees and floodwalls, elevating buildings, and finally building a $2.8 billion water diversion tunnel. Officials discussed these and other possible long-term solutions to flooding in the Passaic River Basin at a public meeting with residents at the Passaic County Public Safety Academy Thursday night. The ideas are part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers re-evaluation of a study designed to determine what the possible solutions there are to alleviating flooding in the 1,000-square mile Basin. The last study was conducted in 1987. The six possible solutions the ACE is examining are: These solutions would cost between $840 and $960 million and offer between 10 and 100 years of protection, according to the ACE. Eugene Brickman, …

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Irene: One Year Later

Neighborhoods Still Rebuilding After Historic Flooding

Some residents who live in the heart of the flood zone are trying to sell their homes. Others are staying, choosing to elevate their residences instead.

The houses stand several feet off the ground, their foundations still unfinished.  Others are still being constructed or repaired. Some houses have just been abandoned, the grass in their front lawns uncut. Houses in the Riverview and Mountain View sections of town are still being repaired and rebuilt a year after Tropical Storm Irene. Pierre Chibiak is rebuilding his two-story home nine feet higher than it previously was. “I’ll never get any water in the house ever again,” Chibiak said. “It’s a permanent solution, one that’s costing me a lot more than people think.” Chibiak received some money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the project, but had to fund much of it himself. “I enjoy living here, but I don’t like …

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Irene: One Year Later

After Irene, Buyouts Turning Neighborhood into Ghost Town

Purchasing homes and knocking them down have been the solution of choice for many in Wayne.

The buying out of homes is transforming the Hoffman Grove section of town. Several streets have only a few houses on them. Other homes are boarded up and marked for demolition. Caution tape wrapped around trees and poles mark the boundary of some lots. Patches of dirt are the only evidence that a house once existed on others. Soon, they’ll be covered with grass. The streets are errily quite. Outdoor activities usually associated with a family-friendly town like Wayne: walking a dog, jogging, or bike riding, don't seem to happen here. Although some clean up work of local waterways has occurred in Wayne since Tropical Storm Irene, buying out homes is the solution residents and local officials have embraced the most in response to the ongoing…

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wayne resident

7:24 pm on Thursday, August 30, 2012

Lisa some people are just not worth arguing with, some people do not have an open mind to even hear another side. I posted as well and then took myself off so that I did not become so overly irritated. I am, as you, a hardworker living in a one-salary home and proud of what I built --until YES all of the changes THE TOWN made... I had a great decade here and now things are completely different …   more ›

Irene: One Year Later

After Irene, Township Better Prepared for Emergencies

New trucks, a generator, ambulance van, and relationships bolster the town's preparedness.

Municipal and civic officials insist that should a storm similar to Tropical Storm Irene strike Wayne again, residents can expect a better level of response than they did last year. “We’ve been very affected by emergency responsiveness and the ongoing effort to train personnel, purchase equipment, and keep the lines of communication open in house and with various support agencies we can go to,” said Tom Cantisano, deputy director of the town’s Office of Emergency Management. Those agencies include The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Residents criticized officials for not having a shelter up and running immediately after Irene hit last year. But relationships are really the key to the improved response Cantisano talked about. …

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Irene: One Year Later

Hurricane Irene: A Visual Retrospective

Here are photographs and video taken before, during, and after Hurricane Irene. Also included are photos of Wayne neighborhoods taken this week.

Hurricane Irene was a storm that had a severe impact on the North Jersey area. Wayne especially felt the effects for weeks, if not months, after the storm disipated.  Meterologists perdicted the severity of the storm for days leading up to when it finally struck North Jersey on Aug. 28, 2011.  Wayne Patch was there documenting how people prepared for the storm, what happened it finally did arrive, and its effect on the area in the days that immediately followed.  Do you have photos or vidoes of Irene that you would like to share? Just upload them to this article. — Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily…

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Irene: One Year Later, Charity Annoucement This Week

Here are a few things we're working on this week at Wayne Patch.

Here’s a few of the stories we’re working on this week at Wayne Patch. The storm has had a lasting effect on Wayne. We’ll tell you and show you some of the lasting ways the storm has changed the community. — Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

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