States › New Jersey › Passaic County

Passaic County, New Jersey

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 34031 · 518,117 residents (2021) · 186 sq mi · dominant hazard Flood

Hail · 34Tornado · 3Flood · 170Wind · 153Winter · 0

Passaic County within New Jersey. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 397 storm events in Passaic County, New Jersey, led by floods and flash floods.

That is 213.4 events per 100 square miles, below the New Jersey figure of 358.7, and 7.7 per 10,000 residents against 28.5 statewide.

8 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 8 deaths and 18 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $25M.

FEMA has designated the county in 30 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Remnants Of Hurricane Ida (major disaster, 5 Sep 2021).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 14,385 claims since 1978, of which 12,381 were paid, totalling $317M (about $26K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,164 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($149M a year across 18 hazards).

42 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

8events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

397events since 19508 deaths, 18 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 5 Sep 2021

14,385NFIP flood claims$317M paid

Compared with New Jersey and the United States

Measure	Passaic County	New Jersey	US
Recorded events since 1950	397	26,382	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	213.4	358.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	7.7	28.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	8	776	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	8	276	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$25M	$28B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	27.8	21.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$26K	$38K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	46.2	10.6	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1

Wind: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 1Wind: 7

Hail: 2Tornado: 2Flood: 17Wind: 30Lightning: 2Other: 11

Hail: 19Flood: 42Wind: 41Lightning: 8Other: 8

Hail: 6Flood: 73Wind: 49Lightning: 4Other: 3

Hail: 3Flood: 38Wind: 25Lightning: 1

01950s11960s11970s111980s641990s1182000s1352010s672020s

Recorded events in Passaic County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 263 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 126 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Flood170

Wind153

Hail34

Other22

Lightning15

Tornado3

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Flood	170	5	4.5%	detail
■ Wind	153	1	1.6%	detail
■ Hail	34	—	2.9%	detail
■ Other	22	1	1.8%
■ Lightning	15	1	2.4%
■ Tornado	3	—	1.4%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
14 May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	49 mph	$2K	—	1	6	County
16 Sep 1999	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$6.0M	—	1	—	County
8 Jul 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
24 Jun 2006	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
8 Sep 2007	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
28 Aug 2011	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	1	—	County
15 Jun 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 Jul 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	3	County
9 May 1998	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	—	2	County
17 Dec 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	2	County
31 May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	—	—	—	2	County
16 Jun 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
11 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
16 Aug 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	1	County
15 Aug 2012	Lightning	Lightning	—	$8.0M	—	—	—	County
11 Aug 2018	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.2M	—	—	—	County
14 Mar 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	—	—	—	County
10 Jul 1989	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
15 Apr 2007	Flood	Flood	—	$2.2M	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
5 Sep 2021	DR-4614	Major disaster	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Sep 2021	EM-3573	Emergency	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4488	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3451	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
8 Jun 2018	DR-4368	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
30 Oct 2012	DR-4086	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3354	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
30 Nov 2011	DR-4048	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm	Public assistance
14 Oct 2011	DR-4039	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee	Public assistance
31 Aug 2011	DR-4021	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Aug 2011	EM-3332	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
4 Feb 2011	DR-1954	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
2 Apr 2010	DR-1897	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Apr 2007	DR-1694	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Sep 2005	EM-3257	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
19 Apr 2005	DR-1588	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
23 Sep 2003	EM-3188	Emergency	Other	Power Outage	Public assistance
20 Mar 2003	EM-3181	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
19 Sep 2001	EM-3169	Emergency	Fire	Fires And Explosions	Public assistance
1 Nov 2000	EM-3156	Emergency	Other	West Nile Virus	Public assistance
18 Sep 1999	DR-1295	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Sep 1999	EM-3148	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations	Public assistance
13 Jan 1996	DR-1088	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3106	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
12 Apr 1984	DR-701	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Oct 1980	EM-3083	Emergency	Drought	Water Shortage	Public assistance
23 Jul 1975	DR-477	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, High Winds, Hail & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Sep 1971	DR-310	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jun 1968	DR-245	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Aug 1965	DR-205	Major disaster	Drought	Water Shortage	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Passaic County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197814,385

Paid claims12,381

Total paid$317M

Average paid claim$26K

Repetitive-loss properties1,407514 severe

Residential policies in force2,1642.2% of 99,647 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	4	1	$6,312	$6,312
2025	2	1	$19,515	$19,515
2024	95	71	$2,257,685	$31,798
2023	234	194	$6,360,236	$32,785
2022	12	8	$50,437	$6,305
2021	518	445	$24,748,197	$55,614
2020	9	5	$65,118	$13,024
2019	6	3	$15,295	$5,098
2018	116	95	$6,108,371	$64,299
2017	4	1	$36,087	$36,087
2016	10	9	$203,574	$22,619
2015	4	1	$23,900	$23,900
2014	17	9	$123,103	$13,678
2013	20	9	$122,787	$13,643
2012	47	21	$2,835,485	$135,023
2011	4,042	3,622	$137,132,324	$37,861
2010	1,419	1,323	$35,316,718	$26,694
2009	11	7	$49,276	$7,039
2008	26	20	$142,702	$7,135
2007	1,432	1,332	$34,694,645	$26,047
2006	21	18	$203,785	$11,321
2005	1,065	919	$14,274,126	$15,532
2004	11	5	$10,753	$2,151
2003	64	41	$693,369	$16,911
2002	7	2	$4,980	$2,490

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Highscore 95.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$149MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$110,988,415
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$7,645,864
Cold wave	Relatively High	$6,337,501
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$5,717,227
Strong wind	Very High	$5,694,894
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$4,952,331
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$4,090,257
Lightning	Very High	$2,170,784
Winter weather	Very High	$883,406
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$214,095
Drought	Relatively Low	$83,529
Hail	Very Low	$40,623
Wildfire	Very Low	$4,159
Landslide	Relatively Low	$3,987
Coastal flooding	Very Low	$1,399
Avalanche	Very Low	$14

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles42

Tracks within 50 miles13

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	81 mi	58 mph
Ida	2021	84 mi	46 mph
Fay	2020	58 mi	40 mph
Isaias	2020	43 mi	63 mph
Andrea	2013	87 mi	46 mph
Irene	2011	34 mi	63 mph
Hanna	2008	72 mi	52 mph
Floyd	1999	52 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	59 mi	69 mph
Gloria	1985	60 mi	86 mph
Henri	1985	85 mi	40 mph
Belle	1976	57 mi	69 mph
Agnes	1972	47 mi	63 mph
Doria	1971	33 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1968	60 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1961	62 mi	63 mph
Brenda	1960	45 mi	58 mph
Donna	1960	77 mi	98 mph
Diane	1955	39 mi	46 mph
Able	1952	40 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	98 mi	104 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1938	75 mi	121 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	49 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	69 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	70 mi	58 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

07470 6,425
07424 2,569
07442 2,568
07522 555
07512 548
07502 432
07506 269
07055 139
07501 122
07524 113
07480 112
07013 100
07403 90
07508 61
07011 54
07505 39
07420 26
07465 26
07456 23
07503 19
07514 16
07014 16
07504 14
07421 12
07513 12
07012 11
07510 11
07474 6
07509 6

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Passaic County, NJ?

NCEI records 34 hail events in Passaic County since 1950, in 21 different years; that is about 0.4 recorded events a year. 3 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Passaic County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 3 tornadoes in Passaic County since 1950, 0 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Passaic County?

5 Sep 2021: Remnants Of Hurricane Ida, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 30 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Passaic County, and how much was paid?

14,385 NFIP claims since 1978, 12,381 of them paid, for $317M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Passaic County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively High" for overall risk, "Relatively Moderate" for expected annual loss, "Relatively High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Passaic County compare with the rest of New Jersey?

213.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 358.7 statewide, and 27.8 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 21.8. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.