Cedar Knolls is calmer than 72% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cedar Knolls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1978.
What stands out about Cedar Knolls’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Cedar Knolls?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 461 of the 564 New Jersey towns we cover.
Cedar Knolls covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Cedar Knolls and its neighbors
Cedar Knolls has the lowest rating of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Township | Low | inland flooding | 58 |
| Hanover Township | Low | inland flooding | 72 |
| Morris Plains | Low | inland flooding | 11 |
| Cedar Knolls | Low | inland flooding | 6 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
What Cedar Knolls faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Cold waves
Does Cedar Knolls flood? Rarely: 6 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cedar Knolls, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Irene1 claim · $5K
- Hurricane Floyd1 claim · $1K
Cedar Knolls isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Morris County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Morris County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cedar Knolls itself in FEMA’s records.
Morris County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Get ready for what Cedar Knolls actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Morris County’s 26 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
- Compared by rate. “Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Cedar Knolls’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cedar Knolls.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Cedar Knolls, expected losses total about $2.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cedar Knolls.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.