MILLBURN, N.J. — To survive the pandemic’s waves, Kevin Cao, the owner of Thai House Restaurant, halted dine-in service, cut five staff members and kept his drunken noodles, pad thai and curry moving with curbside pickup and delivery.Then Hurricane Ida’s remnants reached his door.On the night of Sept. 1, more than seven inches of rain fell in four hours, and a torrent sped down the nearby slopes of the South Mountain to the Rahway River, which flows 10 feet from Thai House. Typically, it looks like a stream, but the river’s water swelled over its concrete channel walls around 8 p.m. Mr. Cao, 37, laid down sandbags and called 911.Unable to push the restaurant’s front door open, he told his five employees …
