Flooding in Cresskill, New Jersey: the flood zone, the record, and what to do
Cresskill is a small borough with a large flood claim record for its size, and nearly all of it traces to one stream. This page sets out what FEMA, the county and the borough have published about the Tenakill Brook and the homes near it.
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program has recorded 92 flood claims in the Borough of Cresskill, more than a third of them in 2021, and lists eight Cresskill properties as repetitive-loss properties. The Bergen County 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan puts 9.6 per cent of the borough in the 1 per cent annual chance flood zone. The water comes chiefly from the Tenakill Brook and its tributary, Cresskill Brook, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has been studying flood risk reduction along the brook since 2023.
The short version
- FEMA records 92 NFIP flood claims in Cresskill, 32 of them in 2021 and 28 attributed to Hurricane Ida.
- FEMA lists eight Cresskill repetitive-loss properties, two of them severe repetitive loss, as of August 2026.
- The Bergen County 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan maps 9.6 per cent of the borough in the 1 per cent annual chance flood zone.
- The Tenakill Brook and its tributary Cresskill Brook are the main flood sources; blockage by sediment and debris was cited after Ida.
- The Army Corps has studied Tenakill Brook flood risk reduction since 2023, and the borough received federal project funding in 2026.
A record dominated by one storm
FEMA's OpenFEMA claims data, grouped by community, show 92 NFIP claims in Cresskill over the life of the programme. FEMA attributes 28 of them to Hurricane Ida and counts 32 in 2021 as a whole, close to the next three heaviest years combined: 14 in 2007, 13 in 2011 and 13 in 1999. By named event, the April 2007 nor'easter, Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Floyd each account for 13 claims. FEMA's multiple-loss records, as of 2 August 2026, list eight Cresskill properties as repetitive-loss properties, two of them in the severe repetitive loss category. The county plan reports 37 active NFIP policies in the borough as of October 2024. Against the US Census Bureau's count of 3,235 housing units, that means most households carry no flood insurance.
How much of the borough is mapped
Table 4.6-1 of the Bergen County 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan puts about 127 acres of Cresskill, or 9.60 per cent of its 1,327 acres, in FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Area, the zone with a 1 per cent chance of flooding in any year. Counting the 0.2 per cent annual chance zone raises that to 11.31 per cent. That is a mid-range share by county standards, well below the reservoir towns to the north and far below the Meadowlands. What sets Cresskill apart is how concentrated the damage has been along one stream corridor.
The Tenakill Brook and Cresskill Brook
The Tenakill Brook runs north through the Northern Valley to the Oradell Reservoir on the Hackensack River. USGS has gauged it in Cresskill, where the drainage area is about 3 square miles, and downstream in Closter, where it is about 8.6. FEMA's countywide Flood Insurance Study treats Cresskill Brook as a tributary that joins the Tenakill with a drainage area of 2.2 square miles, and estimates that the 1 per cent annual chance flow in the Tenakill rises from about 440 cubic feet per second above that junction to about 1,120 below it. The borough's own summary in the county plan says the Tenakill Brook traverses the borough and that flooding has remained a major problem.
Ida and the storms since
The remnants of Ida dropped 7.14 inches of rain at Teterboro Airport, according to the county plan, much of it on the night of 1 September 2021. In a January 2022 letter to the Army, Representative Bill Pascrell wrote that the heavy rain clogged the Tenakill Brook with sediment and debris, and that the borough's middle and high school building was badly damaged and closed for the school year. Less than two months later, the county plan records, a nor'easter damaged a small private dam on Cresskill Brook in neighbouring Demarest, and Cresskill officials reported that this worsened flooding in the borough. On 2 June 2022 ABC7 reported Cresskill Brook overflowing into yards and residential streets again. The downstream Tenakill gauge in Closter recorded a peak of 1,350 cubic feet per second during Ida, second only to April 2007 in its record.
The Army Corps study and the mitigation project
In February 2024 the borough told residents that the Army Corps of Engineers New York District was conducting a two-year study of local flooding, under a cost-sharing agreement signed on 7 August 2023 with NJDEP as the non-federal sponsor. The options being examined were flood walls, channel modifications and ringwalls around critical municipal buildings. A feasibility report was scheduled for August 2025; this guide has not found it published. In March 2026 the mayor announced federal Community Project Funding for a Tenakill Brook Flood Mitigation Project, naming families on Pierce Avenue, Morningside and Meadow Street among those worried each time heavy rain is forecast. The county plan adds that Cresskill revised its Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance with NJDEP and tightened its stormwater rules.
Basements, not only the brook
The Census Bureau puts the median year built of Cresskill homes at 1964. Many houses of that age had basements finished long after they were built, with nothing changed outside the foundation. The claims above count only surface flooding from outside. A basement that takes water through a wall joint, a floor drain or a stopped sump pump during the same storm does not show up in FEMA's figures, and with roughly nine-tenths of the borough's land outside the mapped zone, that is the water many residents actually meet.
What this means if you own or rent here
Look up your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and if you live anywhere near the Tenakill or Cresskill Brook, take the 2021 record seriously even if your lot is outside the shaded zone. Keep storm drains and the brook edge behind your property clear of leaves and debris, since blockage was a named factor in Ida. Flood insurance is a separate policy from homeowners insurance, and FEMA states that a new flood policy normally takes 30 days to take effect. About 22 per cent of Cresskill homes are rented, according to the Census Bureau; a landlord's policy does not protect a tenant's belongings. Sewer backup and seepage are treated separately again, and whether a given loss is covered is decided by your insurer and your policy wording.
Common questions
Does Cresskill, NJ flood?
Parts of it do. FEMA counts 92 flood insurance claims in the borough, most from storms that pushed the Tenakill Brook and Cresskill Brook out of their banks, and Ida in 2021 caused the worst damage on record. About 9.6 per cent of the borough is in the mapped 1 per cent flood zone.
Which parts of Cresskill flood?
The land along the Tenakill Brook and Cresskill Brook. The mayor's March 2026 update names Pierce Avenue, Morningside and Meadow Street among the neighbourhoods affected. For a particular address, use the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Is anything being done about the Tenakill Brook?
Yes. The Army Corps of Engineers New York District began a flood risk management feasibility study with the borough and NJDEP in 2023, looking at flood walls, channel changes and ringwalls, and in 2026 the borough received federal funding for a Tenakill Brook Flood Mitigation Project.
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