Tropical Storm Doria, Part Two

August, 1971

“Hasty barricades were set up all around the flooded areas…The fence surrounding [the Cauldwell Playground] was ripped out, pools of water remained on the baseball diamond and basketball court late last night, a portable bandstand was pushed all the way across the playground and mud covered the entire scene. Observing the damage, playground director William J. Barber said last night that “This means the end of the playground season.”

“No one contacted last night knew who would pay the costs for families forced out of the homes across Martin Luther King Avenue from the playground. Of those evacuated, 12 spent the night Saturday at the Governor Morris Inn, Morris Township, and one family of 11 stayed at the Tomac Motor Inn, Route 10, Parsippany.

“About two dozen people slept at the Morristown Neighborhood House on Flagler Street last night. At mid-day Saturday, the Rev. Howard Anderson of the Calvary Baptist Church had opened the church hall to the people evacuated and some residents of the Manahan Village project apartments whose homes were almost marooned in the flood.

“About 100 people ate lunch at the church, including an 84-year-old woman and a three-week-old infant evacuated in rowboats from the Coal-Center Area.

“Yesterday, the Whippany had slipped back between its banks and the sun turned left-off mud on Coal Avenue and Center Street into thick dust.”

Source: Daily Record, August 30, 1971

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