28,016 flood insurance claims·$404.8M paid·11 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Cape May County, New Jersey. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Coastal flooding and storm surge dominate the flood profile of Cape May County, New Jersey, supported by 145 coastal flood events and 57 storm surge or tide events recorded over the last thirty years compared to 23 flash flood events. Recent activity includes a powerful coastal storm in October 2025 that pushed water toward the shoreline and into back bays over multiple high tide cycles, as well as storm surge from Hurricane Erin combined with a new moon in August 2025 that produced moderate to locally major high tide levels.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate heavy historical claims concentration across zones. Zone A accounts for 27,236 claims with an average payout of $17,824 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while Zone V records 426 claims averaging $21,756 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Shaded Zone X recorded 166 claims averaging $15,305 with an average water depth of 2 inches, standard Zone X logged 90 claims averaging $11,044 with a 2-inch average water depth, and unknown zones recorded 65 claims averaging $6,232 with an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists tracking property risk in Cape May County should pay the most attention to coastal and V-zone or A-zone properties, which bear the vast majority of historical flood claims and payout averages.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Cape May County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
27,860 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2012, with 10,138 claims and $267.3M paid, the year of Hurricane Sandy.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
51 NOAA storm reports from Cape May County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Jersey flood stories →
34 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Remnants Of Hurricane Ida | Sep 1, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Isaias | Aug 4, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storm | Oct 29, 2011 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 27, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Dec 26, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
301 since 1996: 23 flash floods, 63 river or area floods and 202 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 20, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Nov 15, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jan 13, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Feb 13, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 26, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. A stationary front sparked off showers and thunderstorms across the forecast area. Flash flooding resulted.
Coastal Flood · Aug 21, 2025. Storm surge from Hurricane Erin and an upcoming New Moon resulted in moderate to locally major high tide levels on the night of August 21, 2025 across coastal areas of New Jersey.
Coastal Flood · Oct 12, 2025. A powerful coastal storm sat off the New Jersey coast, with strong winds pushing water towards the shoreline and into the back bays of New Jersey. Moderate to locally major high tide levels were observed along the coast. Tidal flooding continued over multiple high tide cycles.
Coastal Flood · Sep 20, 2024. A prolonged period of onshore flow due to an offshore coastal storm + a full moon resulted in higher tides and moderate coastal flooding in some communities of coastal New Jersey.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Cape May County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.