7,525 flood insurance claims·$163.4M paid·9 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 Union 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.
Flash flooding from heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Union County, New Jersey. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, flash floods account for the majority of events with 140 occurrences and 7 deaths, compared to 45 general floods, 2 tropical storms, and 2 coastal floods. Heavy precipitation events frequently drive this risk, as demonstrated on July 14, 2025, when a weak front and high precipitable water levels produced 4 to 6.5 inches of rainfall with rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that flood damage occurs across both designated high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk areas. Zone A leads with 5,568 claims averaging a payout of $28,560 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties also face significant risk, recording 953 claims with an average payout of $26,756 and an average water depth of 13 inches. Additional claims are recorded in shaded Zone X (317 claims, average payout of $15,044, average water depth of 8 inches) and unshaded Zone X (581 claims, average payout of $19,551, average water depth of 5 inches).
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in high-risk Zone A, while remaining aware that properties in Zone X and shaded or unshaded Zone X variants also experience substantial claims and water depths during severe weather.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Union County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
6,468 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 11 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 2011, with 1,679 claims and $53.9M paid, the year of Hurricane Irene and Severe Storm.
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.
64 NOAA storm reports from Union County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Jersey flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Remnants Of Hurricane Ida | Sep 1, 2021 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding | Apr 14, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
189 since 1996: 140 flash floods, 45 river or area floods and 2 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jan 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 17, 2025. Thunderstorms produced Flash Flooding across the area. Rainfall rates between 0.75 inches to 1.25 inches in one hour.
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2025. A weak front approached from the west along with PW of 2 inches resulting in heavy rainfall across the area. 4 to 6.5 inches of rainfall totals were reported with rainfall rates between 1 to 2 inches.
Flash Flood · Aug 13, 2025. Thunderstorm moved across northeast New Jersey resulting in a water rescue across Hudson County, cars stuck in flood waters across Essex County and Road closures across Union County.
Flash Flood · Aug 18, 2024. A frontal system over the area on August 18th produced heavy thunderstorms that were fairly slow moving over northeast New Jersey. A cold front moving in from the west late in the afternoon produced heavy thunderstorms with an environmental MUCAPE of 2000-3000 J/kg and PWAT values of 1.7-1.8 inches. These slow moving thunderstorms produce rainfall rates of 1-3 inches per hour over New Jersey with total rainfall am…
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 Union 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.