Preakness’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Preakness comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 48 claims here since 1978.
What stands out about Preakness’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Preakness and its neighbors
Preakness has the lowest rating of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
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.
How exposed is Preakness?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 362 of the 564 New Jersey towns we cover.
Preakness covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.
What Preakness faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Does Preakness flood? Sometimes: 48 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Preakness, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Floyd8 claims · $75K
- Hurricane Ida5 claims · $110K
- The Not a named storm4 claims · $16K
Preakness isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Passaic County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Passaic County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Preakness itself in FEMA’s records.
Passaic County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Get ready for what Preakness 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.
- 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.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- 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 Passaic County’s 22 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 Preakness’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Preakness.
- 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 Preakness, expected losses total about $6.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Preakness.
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.