Trenton Flood - 3-4 April 2005

Trenton is bordered on the lower, south end by the Delaware River, which separates New Jersey from Pennsylvania. The red circle is the location of the USGS river monitoring station just west of the Calhoun Bridge linking Trenton to Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

I currently live somewhere slightly east of the right center side of the map, so the river is not very close.

Note the last major flooding which occurred after the series of hurricanes of September 2004.

This shows that the water started rising above its full bank level on 2 April, and reached the level of a major flood at about midnight of 3 April, continuing to rise the next day.

The West Trenton area is the most affected by this flooding -- I lived there a few years ago, on Sanhican Drive, across Route 29, fronting on the river -- one of the few upscale well kept neighborhoods of the capital city.

Photos organized from top left to bottom of column -- right top to bottom

an advance statistical graph showing the probable rise of the Delaware River for the month of April 2005
another angle of the last view on the lower left column

at slightly after noon on 4 April 2005, the water had reached a level of 25.27 feet above base level
I then took another route, closer to the Amtrak railroad bridge crossing from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, bordering on Villa Victoria Academy, a Catholic girls school -- a few bicycles but an empty Route 29, under water in several nearby areas -- the building in the background is a river monitoring station which is usually at least 20 feet above the river level

at 18:30h of 4 April 2005, it appears to be slowly receding, at a level of 25.01 feet
as you can see, the water is now at the level of the monitoring station -- Morrisville-Yardley, Pennsylvania is seen across the river

the evening of 3 April 2005, Bernar, who lives at the place I once inhabited in West Trenton, emailed me some photos he took earlier in the day -- the water is coming from the storm drains, which are now below water level in the nearby river
a view of the railroad bridge from the edge of Route 29 -- only few feet separate the river from the base of the bridge

most of the inhabitants of the neighborhood were evacuated -- he and Rhea, the 88 year old neighbor next door remained behind, as they did during the hurricane flooding of last year
then I took the Honda farther south, to the Calhoun Street Bridge -- it was closed to traffic because, apparently, many hormongous trees had struck the foundations during the height of flood stage, and engineers have to determine if it is structurally sound -- to me this sounds overly cautions, and an excuse to spend more state tax money on useless projects

at the north end of Sanhican Drive the river was washing over the curbs
on the far left one can just about make out the so-called Trenton Makes Bridge to Morrisville, which is still open -- I was told that the nearby Pennsylvania river roads were also closed due to flooding, which is logical

another view from the same vantage point showing the last homes on Sanhican Drive, some of which are slightly about street level
Bernar sent more pics near the house, dated Monday, 4 April 2005 -- this is the back of the property, and the water has reached the rear of the driveway -- another foot and it would have probably flooded the basement -- most of the people on the street behind this were not so lucky

a view slightly south on Sanhican Drive s dusk approaches -- in front of a few small stores located there
the waters were still swirling at the end of that block of Sanhican Drive, all coming from the storm sewer drains

the Route 29 entrance to the residential part of Sanhican Drive
at about the same point on Route 29 -- most of this road has patches of water, and the entire length has been closed to traffic -- the house in the background appears to have water to the front door, as many would

on Monday, 4 April 2005 I attempted to take some cat supplies and an emergency battery pack to Bernar, but one of the roads I tried was flooded before reaching Route 29 -- this is at the end of the Trenton Country Club

due to the water, I do not recognize the exact location where he took this shot

The girl at the Post Office n West Trenton told me it took her about 2 hours to get to work this morning due to the several detours due to the flooding

the water had surrounded several of the homes located at the far corner of the golf club, closest to the river
x

stay tuned for possible updates

In Trenton city, about the only places that ever get flooded are those bordering the Assunpink Creek -- it happened so frequently, that the city bought the homes along the creek, and the inhabitants had to move elsewhere -- when I was teaching, one of my students used to live there, and always told stories of water, even in the living room!

To give you a clue where I currently live, the Assumpink Creek is at the red circle, and I am way down on the right, with no streams or creeks in the immediate area. Note that the name of the Creek is spelled two different ways in the official graphics -- they never could read or spell very well in Trenton! Actually, I sort of thought that the name ended in punk! It is supposed to be an old Indian name.

-- Me / Delaware River at Trenton --

God Bless !

Questions and comments may be emailed to the author of the above YES at

Your bids on my treasures

help me pay the monthly bills and keep this web site chugging along

Yard Sale Net Listings

[ * YES - 2005 * ]

This page was created with the able assistance of an

Apple G4 eMac - the Perfect Home Computer!

PageMill and the PageMill logo

are trademarks of

Adobe Systems Incorporated

Free counters provided by Andale.

COPYRIGHT © 2005

by La Atlántida Web Design. All rights reserved.

due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid

My Other Domains

Privacy Policy

an advance statistical graph showing the probable rise of the Delaware River for the month of April 2005		another angle of the last view on the lower left column
at slightly after noon on 4 April 2005, the water had reached a level of 25.27 feet above base level		I then took another route, closer to the Amtrak railroad bridge crossing from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, bordering on Villa Victoria Academy, a Catholic girls school -- a few bicycles but an empty Route 29, under water in several nearby areas -- the building in the background is a river monitoring station which is usually at least 20 feet above the river level
at 18:30h of 4 April 2005, it appears to be slowly receding, at a level of 25.01 feet		as you can see, the water is now at the level of the monitoring station -- Morrisville-Yardley, Pennsylvania is seen across the river
the evening of 3 April 2005, Bernar, who lives at the place I once inhabited in West Trenton, emailed me some photos he took earlier in the day -- the water is coming from the storm drains, which are now below water level in the nearby river		a view of the railroad bridge from the edge of Route 29 -- only few feet separate the river from the base of the bridge
most of the inhabitants of the neighborhood were evacuated -- he and Rhea, the 88 year old neighbor next door remained behind, as they did during the hurricane flooding of last year		then I took the Honda farther south, to the Calhoun Street Bridge -- it was closed to traffic because, apparently, many hormongous trees had struck the foundations during the height of flood stage, and engineers have to determine if it is structurally sound -- to me this sounds overly cautions, and an excuse to spend more state tax money on useless projects
at the north end of Sanhican Drive the river was washing over the curbs		on the far left one can just about make out the so-called Trenton Makes Bridge to Morrisville, which is still open -- I was told that the nearby Pennsylvania river roads were also closed due to flooding, which is logical
another view from the same vantage point showing the last homes on Sanhican Drive, some of which are slightly about street level		Bernar sent more pics near the house, dated Monday, 4 April 2005 -- this is the back of the property, and the water has reached the rear of the driveway -- another foot and it would have probably flooded the basement -- most of the people on the street behind this were not so lucky
a view slightly south on Sanhican Drive s dusk approaches -- in front of a few small stores located there		the waters were still swirling at the end of that block of Sanhican Drive, all coming from the storm sewer drains
the Route 29 entrance to the residential part of Sanhican Drive		at about the same point on Route 29 -- most of this road has patches of water, and the entire length has been closed to traffic -- the house in the background appears to have water to the front door, as many would
on Monday, 4 April 2005 I attempted to take some cat supplies and an emergency battery pack to Bernar, but one of the roads I tried was flooded before reaching Route 29 -- this is at the end of the Trenton Country Club		due to the water, I do not recognize the exact location where he took this shot The girl at the Post Office n West Trenton told me it took her about 2 hours to get to work this morning due to the several detours due to the flooding
the water had surrounded several of the homes located at the far corner of the golf club, closest to the river	x	stay tuned for possible updates