Flooding in Garfield, New Jersey: the flood zone, the record, and what to do
Garfield's mapped flood zone is small, under 8 per cent of the city, but it lies along the Passaic exactly where the National Weather Service names streets in its flood warnings. This page sets out what those warnings, FEMA and the county plan record.
The Bergen County 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan places 7.70 per cent of Garfield's land in the FEMA 1 per cent annual chance flood zone, rising to 10.86 per cent with the 0.2 per cent zone. FEMA counts 351 flood insurance claims in the city and 38 repetitive-loss properties. Garfield sits at Dundee Dam, where the Passaic stops being tidal, and the Weather Service gauge there lists Garfield streets from 6 feet upward. Smaller brooks inside the city have needed their own channel work.
The short version
- FEMA counts 351 flood insurance claims in Garfield, 111 of them from Irene, and lists 38 repetitive-loss properties.
- The county plan places 7.70 per cent of the city in the FEMA 1 per cent flood zone and 10.86 per cent including the 0.2 per cent zone.
- At the Dundee Dam gauge, Riverside Place and Somerset Street begin to flood at 6 feet and River Drive is impassable at 6.5 feet.
- The modern high on that gauge is 5.9 feet, after Irene in 2011; the 1903 record is 8.4 feet.
- Channel work on Schroeders Brook and Fleischer Brook targets localized flooding away from the Passaic.
The city at the head of the tide
Garfield's western edge is the Passaic River, and Dundee Dam, on that edge, marks the top of the tidal river. The Environmental Protection Agency describes the tidal Passaic as running 17 miles from Newark Bay to Dundee Dam in Garfield. Above the dam the river answers to rain far upstream; below it, the tide has a say as well. The county plan's Table 4.6-1 measures Garfield at 1,402.68 acres and puts 107.97 acres, or 7.70 per cent, in FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Area, with another 44.40 acres in the 0.2 per cent zone. A 2014 draft of the county plan classed all of Garfield's mapped zone as riverine, none of it coastal. The same county plan names Garfield, with Hackensack and Bogota, as a place with a flood-prone downtown where small businesses can suffer prolonged closures after storms. The US Census Bureau counts 11,846 housing units, with a median year built of 1954.
The Dundee Dam gauge, stage by stage
The National Weather Service gauge called Passaic River at Clifton (Dundee Dam) is the one that describes Garfield. Action stage is 3.5 feet, minor flood stage 4.5, moderate 6 and major 7. The Weather Service's impact list reads like a street map of the city's riverside. At 6 feet Riverside Place and Somerset Street begin to flood. At 6.5 feet River Drive becomes impassable and Cambridge Avenue begins to flood, including homes. At 7 feet the list says many homes between Passaic Street and Van Winkle are flooded. At 8 feet water reaches Palisades Avenue, at 8.5 feet Midland Avenue, and at 9 feet Outwater Lane near River Drive. The record crest is 8.4 feet on 10 October 1903. In the modern era the highest is 5.9 feet on 30 August 2011, after Irene, followed by 5.0 feet in March 2010 and 4.93 feet in April 2007. Irene stopped a tenth of a foot short of the first Garfield street on the list.
What the claim record shows
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program data list 351 claims in Garfield over the life of the programme. The heaviest year was 2011, with 122, followed by 1999 with 53, 2021 with 50 and 2007 with 43. FEMA attributes 111 claims to Hurricane Irene, 52 to Hurricane Floyd, 46 to Hurricane Ida and 43 to the April 2007 nor'easter. FEMA's multiple-loss records, as of 2 August 2026, list 38 repetitive-loss properties in the city, seven of them severe repetitive loss. Set against the size of the city, that is about three claims for every hundred homes, a lower rate than Wallington or Lodi next door. Federal assistance records point the same way as the claims but are larger: FEMA lists 220 valid owner-occupant registrations from Garfield after Irene and 244 after Ida. Sandy, a surge storm, produced 132 registrations and does not appear among the city's four largest claim events.
Brooks, cars and the flood events in between
Not every Garfield flood is the Passaic. FEMA's Flood Insurance Study for Bergen County records channel improvements along Fleischer Brook by the county engineering department and along Schroeders Brook by the City of Garfield, which it says reduce localized flooding during relatively minor storms; the study's Fleischer Brook analysis begins at a diversion spillway at Lanza Avenue. The county hazard plan lists Garfield events that never made the river headlines: an August 2001 thunderstorm that left three cars stuck in deep street water, with the fire department rescuing all three, flooding during Tropical Storm Hanna in September 2008, and flooding in the March 2010 nor'easter. On the Saddle River side, testimony to Congress in January 2024 named Garfield among the places flooded in the lower Saddle basin and described the Lower Saddle River Flood Protection Project, authorised in 1986 to study flooding along the Saddle River and Sprout Brook, as still awaiting the clean-up of contaminated sites before any construction.
Buyouts and the insurance discount
In January 2024 the City of Garfield posted information about Blue Acres, the state's voluntary flood buyout programme, telling residents that it works with willing sellers whose homes have been damaged by storms or are prone to future flooding, and that owners must apply directly to the programme. This guide has found no published count of completed Garfield buyouts. Garfield joined FEMA's Community Rating System in May 2012, but the county plan lists it at Class 10, which carries no flood insurance discount.
What this means if you own or rent here
If you live near the river, bookmark the Dundee Dam gauge and learn the stage at which your street appears in the impact list above. The Passaic here responds slowly, and its crest can come a day or two after the rain, so keep watching after the storm has passed. If you live inland, the brooks and street drainage are the likelier problem, and a sudden thunderstorm can do the damage. Check the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for your address. Flood is a separate policy from homeowners insurance, and FEMA states that a new policy normally takes effect 30 days after purchase. About 55 per cent of Garfield households rent, according to the US Census Bureau. A landlord's policy does not cover a tenant's belongings, and the first useful step after finding water is a written, dated report to the landlord. Whether a given loss is covered is decided by your insurer and your policy wording.
Common questions
Does Garfield, NJ flood?
Parts of it do. FEMA counts 351 flood insurance claims in the city, mostly from Irene, Floyd, Ida and the April 2007 nor'easter, and the county plan places 7.70 per cent of its land in the 1 per cent flood zone along the Passaic.
Which Garfield streets flood first?
According to the National Weather Service, Riverside Place and Somerset Street begin to flood at 6 feet on the Dundee Dam gauge, River Drive becomes impassable and Cambridge Avenue floods at 6.5 feet, and homes between Passaic Street and Van Winkle flood at 7 feet.
Does Garfield take part in flood buyouts?
Garfield has published information about the state Blue Acres programme, which buys flood-prone homes from willing sellers. Owners apply directly to the programme, and participation is voluntary.
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