Fords’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fords comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1978.
What stands out about Fords’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Fords?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 370 of the 564 New Jersey towns we cover.
Fords covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
What Fords 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
Earthquakes
Strong wind
Tornadoes
Heat waves
Does Fords flood? Rarely: 6 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Fords, from FEMA’s records.
- The December Storm - nor’easter1 claim · $6K
Fords isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Middlesex County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Middlesex County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fords itself in FEMA’s records.
Middlesex County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Get ready for what Fords 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
Fords and its neighbors
Fords ranks 2nd calmest of 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edison | Moderate | inland flooding | 154 |
| Fords | Moderate | inland flooding | 6 |
| Woodbridge | Low | inland flooding | 597 |
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.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Middlesex County’s 23 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 Fords’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fords.
- 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 Fords, expected losses total about $2.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Fords.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.