Bergen County, New Jersey: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 308 records.
- The costliest single record is Flood in 2010: $45.5M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Flash Flood in 1999, with 2 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 32 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2011, with 3,686 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 32 disasters that named Bergen County between 1965 and 2021.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 10 | 2021 |
| Severe Storm | 6 | 2018 |
| Flood | 5 | 1992 |
| Snowstorm | 4 | 2010 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Drought | 2 | 1980 |
| Other | 2 | 2003 |
| Fire | 1 | 2001 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4614 2021 · Hurricane · Remnants Of Hurricane Ida
- EM-3573 2021 · Hurricane · Remnants Of Hurricane Ida
- DR-4574 2020 · Hurricane · Tropical Storm Isaias
- DR-4488 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3451 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4368 2018 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm
- DR-4264 2016 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm
- DR-4086 2012 · Hurricane · Hurricane Sandy
- EM-3354 2012 · Hurricane · Hurricane Sandy
- DR-4048 2011 · Severe Storm · Severe Storm
Not counted above: 2 statewide declarations, which covered every county in New Jersey. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 308 | 3 | 13 | $1.4M |
| Flash Flood | 269 | 3 | 1 | $17.5M |
| Flood | 117 | 1 | 0 | $58.4M |
| Hail | 80 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 62 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 52 | 3 | 6 | $521K |
| High Wind | 47 | 0 | 5 | $3.1M |
| Winter Weather | 45 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 39 | 2 | 8 | $1.8M |
| Winter Storm | 34 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Rain | 23 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Drought | 11 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 9 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Coastal Flood | 5 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Blizzard | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Storm | 4 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Dense Fog | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 1 | 0 | 0 | $30K |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Bergen County each year. The busiest year was 2018, with 98 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 36 | 0 | $3.0M |
| 1997 | 19 | 2 | $0 |
| 1998 | 17 | 0 | $0 |
| 1999 | 20 | 3 | $17.5M |
| 2000 | 24 | 0 | $0 |
| 2001 | 24 | 0 | $0 |
| 2002 | 33 | 0 | $0 |
| 2003 | 14 | 0 | $0 |
| 2004 | 25 | 1 | $0 |
| 2005 | 26 | 0 | $3.0M |
| 2006 | 27 | 2 | $0 |
| 2007 | 29 | 1 | $6.9M |
| 2008 | 66 | 1 | $505K |
| 2009 | 57 | 0 | $145K |
| 2010 | 55 | 0 | $45.8M |
| 2011 | 53 | 0 | $78K |
| 2012 | 28 | 2 | $2.0M |
| 2013 | 55 | 0 | $328K |
| 2014 | 53 | 0 | $125K |
| 2015 | 22 | 0 | $8K |
| 2016 | 16 | 2 | $250K |
| 2017 | 26 | 0 | $1.4M |
| 2018 | 98 | 0 | $529K |
| 2019 | 51 | 0 | $340K |
| 2020 | 48 | 0 | $548K |
| 2021 | 82 | 1 | $106K |
| 2022 | 44 | 0 | $52K |
| 2023 | 22 | 0 | $13K |
| 2024 | 40 | 0 | $75K |
| 2025 | 10 | 0 | $0 |
| 2026 | 8 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Flood · Mar 13, 2010$45.5MNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 222657
- Flash Flood · Sep 16, 1999$17.5MNOAA name: BERGEN · 2 deaths · NOAA record 5724740
- Flood · Apr 15, 2007$6.9MNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 29606
- Flood · Jan 19, 1996$3.0MNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 5561975
- Flood · Apr 2, 2005$3.0MNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 5443441
Deadliest records
- Flash Flood · Sep 16, 19992 deathsNOAA name: BERGEN · $17.5M damage · NOAA record 5724740
- Lightning · Jul 22, 20062 deathsNOAA name: BERGEN · 2 injuries · NOAA record 5525799
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jul 18, 19971 deathNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 5610409
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jul 18, 19971 deathNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 5610413
- Strong Wind · Oct 18, 19991 deathNOAA name: BERGEN · NOAA record 5720403
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $429.9M on 14,417 claims in Bergen County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,686 | $104.9M |
| 2012 | 2,090 | $129.3M |
| 1999 | 1,830 | $36.9M |
| 2021 | 1,803 | $78.9M |
| 2007 | 1,548 | $41.3M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Bergen County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 3 | 4 NCEI events over 31 years (0.13/yr). 10 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 440 NCEI events over 31 years (14.19/yr). 6 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 414 NCEI events over 31 years (13.35/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 147 NCEI events over 31 years (4.74/yr). 4 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 86 NCEI events over 31 years (2.77/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 2 | 18 NCEI events over 31 years (0.58/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 2 | 11 NCEI events over 31 years (0.35/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 2 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tornado | 1 | 1 NCEI event over 31 years (0.03/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Bergen County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Bergen County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for New Jersey yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: BERGEN, EASTERN BERGEN, WESTERN BERGEN. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 0% of New Jersey's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.