Palermo’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palermo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 333 claims here since 1980.
What stands out about Palermo’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Palermo faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Coastal flooding
Strong wind
Heat waves
Does Palermo flood? Yes: 333 flood claims since 1980
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Palermo, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Sandy151 claims · $6.0M
- The December Storm - nor’easter19 claims · $221K
- The Winter Storm Jonas16 claims · $605K
Palermo isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cape May County.The storms Palermo remembers
None of the disasters declared for Cape May County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Palermo itself in FEMA’s records.
- 2012151 flood claims paidThe most in any one year on record
- 199229 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
- 198435 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
Cape May County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.
Old photos of Palermo after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Palermo archive →How exposed is Palermo?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.
Rated higher than 359 of the 564 New Jersey towns we cover.
Palermo covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Get ready for what Palermo 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.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- 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 Cape May County’s 27 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 Palermo’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Palermo.
- 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 Palermo, expected losses total about $2.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Palermo.
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.