The nor’easter that barreled through the area last weekend left thousands without power and caused widespread damage to homes and businesses due to heavy winds and flooding.

A wooded area behind a building on Buckelew Avenue was flooded all the way to a house on Pergola Avenue in Jamesburg Sunday following a weekend of torrential rains. The water appeared to be coming from an overflowing lake in Thompson Park. JEFF GRANIT staff Officials throughout Middlesex County agreed the storm was one of the most destructive they’ve seen in over a decade.

Emergency crews have been out since Saturday restoring power lines and removing fallen and damaged trees.

An estimated 5 inches of rain fell in the area, causing waterways such as streams, lakes, rivers and the Raritan Bay to rise and in some cases overflow. Flooding has since receded in most areas.

Old Bridge Mayor Jim Phillips said the Route 35 bridge was completely shut down at one point during the storm, as water completely engulfed the ramps leading to the bridge.

“Tides were so high that the bay actually met the lagoon by the Route 35 bridge,” he said.

Phillips also noted that parts of southern Old Bridge, particularly Arvin Road and West Avenue, were flooded by water flowing down to the Raritan River from an overflooded Duhernal watershed.

Route 1 in South Brunswick was covered by floodwaters from Carnegie Lake and surrounding streams that had overflowed over the weekend, according to South Brunswick Sgt. Jim Ryan.

“At one point, Route 1 by Dow Jones was completely closed as floodwaters raced over the highway above the concrete divider,” Ryan said.

South River endured significant flood damages as well, leading to the evacuations of approximately 55 homes. Many of those evacuees, forced from their homes due to rising waters in the South River, spent the night at the borough’s emergency evacuation center on Reid Street, Councilman John Krenzel said.

“This was one of the worst flooding situations seen in South River in over 20 years,” South River Mayor Ray Eppinger, said. “The tides rose very quickly and the South River- Sayreville Bridge had to be closed at Saturday afternoon’s high tide.”

South River saw flooding in the usual spots, such as Herman Street and Maple Avenue, Krenzel said, but there was also significant damage to homes and commercial facilities in other areas.

A Sayreville police car parked on Weber Avenue, adjacent to the Veterans Memorial Bridge was completely destroyed as the banks of the South River began to overflow on Saturday, according to Sayreville Detective Sgt. David Lasko. The police car began to rapidly fill with water during high tide and though the officer was able to escape on time, the car and the equipment inside were completely destroyed.

The overflowing of the South River also affected East Brunswick in the areas of Main Street and Bordentown Avenue, causing temporary road closures at high tides over the weekend. Flooding caused closures on Old Matawan Road and Squire Street as well.

The Middlesex Water Company, which provides water services to close to 450,000 customers in New Jersey and Delaware, experienced minor flooding, leading to a “Boil Water Advisory” for several municipalities in the county. Residents were told to boil water for one minute if it were to be used for consumption. By Tuesday, the boil advisory was still in effect for East Brunswick, South River, Spotswood, Helmetta and Aberdeen.

“In addition to having the normal storm problems, we had to post a hazard about boiling our water because the water at the Middlesex Water Company became tainted,” Phillips said. Informing residents of the advisory was difficult, he said, given the fact that Old Bridge lost power for a part of the storm.

South River was able to the use the reverse 911 system to call all residents and inform them of the advisory, according to Krenzel.

With close to 133,000 statewide power outages from Saturday’s storm, hundreds in central New Jersey remained without electricity through Tuesday afternoon. Many local municipalities had restored power earlier this week but were awaiting work on flooded or tree-damaged areas in order to fully restore power.

Eppinger said the entire borough of South River lost power around 5 p.m. Saturday due to two main PSE&G transmission lines that were damaged. Power was restored to the majority of the town by 8 a.m. Sunday, he said. Parts of the Causeway remained without power Tuesday, as officials wanted to assure that flooded structures could be safely restored, the mayor said.

In East Brunswick, nearly three-quarters of the town, approximately 36,000 residences, lost power, according to Police Sgt. Paul Natalicchio.

“A large portion of the township was without power from 4:30 p.m. on Saturday until 2:30 a.m. on Sunday,” he said. Though a majority of outages, caused by several trees and utility poles that fell during the storm, were restored by Tuesday, there were still areas without power.”

Severely damaged and uprooted trees led to many of the blackouts across the county.

“There was general mayhem throughout town between trees being uprooted and streams overflowing,” Phillips said of Old Bridge. “We don’t know what the ultimate cost is going to be, we had crews working all day yesterday taking care of trees that fell into streets.”

The East Brunswick Division of Parks and Public Works responded to over 200 calls for downed trees and fallen limbs, including in the areas of Princeton Road, Gates Avenue, San Road, Church Lane, and Edgeboro Road, where the uprooted trees caused utility poles to fall with them, according to Natalicchio.

Dottie McKenna, an East Brunswick resident for over 30 years, said the storm was the worst she’s ever seen in the area.

Two large trees fell on the Our Saviors Lutheran Church, located on Milltown Road in East Brunswick, and church members felt “very lucky” the entire roof did not collapse, McKenna said.

Emergency calls spiked over the weekend, from 500 in South Brunswick to some 9,000 in East Brunswick.

Municipalities remained unaware of the ultimate cost of damages Tuesday as they continued with recovery efforts. But officials across the county were in agreement that the damages were substantial and it would take some time to fully recover.

“A number of residents and business suffered damages from the storm and flooding,” Eppinger said. “I think there are too many stories to mention.”