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(Much of the information on this page is adapted from information provided by the American Red Cross, FEMA and the National Weather Service).
Are rivers in your area reaching flood levels? Check real-time maps and forecasts provided by the National Weather Service:
Track color-coded maps with New Jersey's real-time weather forecasts, shore and tidal information:
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or a local news source
for weather information and for instructions from public safety
officials. Remember: A battery-powered radio is a vital
part of your Emergency
Supply Kit.
In New Jersey and across America, Floods are among the
most frequent natural hazards, and among the most devastating
in terms of human hardship and economic loss.
The greatest risk occurs in known floodplains when prolonged
rainfall over several days, intense rainfall over a
short period of time, or an ice or debris jam causes
a river or stream to overflow.
Melting snow can combine with rain in the winter and
early spring; severe thunderstorms can bring heavy
rain in the spring and summer; or tropical storms can
bring intense rainfall in the summer and fall.
Floods and Flash Floods each provide unique
risks.
Floods can develop over several hours or several days.
Streets can become swift-moving rivers, creating great danger
for pedestrians and drivers. Basements, buildings and entire
swaths of land can become inundated, leading to deadly hazards,
dangerous structural damage, and lost property or crops.
Flash Floods are deadly and fast moving, and can occur
with little or no warning. They can begin within the first
hours of a rain event, or after a dam or levee failure, or
following the sudden release of water held back by an ice
or debris jam. Flash floods can roll boulders, tear out trees,
destroy buildings and bridges, and scour out new channels.
Flash flood-producing rains can also trigger catastrophic
mudslides.
Follow these Links
for further reading on floods and flood preparedness.
FLOODSMART.GOV
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