Flooding in Oradell, New Jersey: the flood zone, the dam, and what the record shows
Oradell gives its name to the dam that holds back northern New Jersey's drinking water. That makes it easy to assume the borough is either protected by the reservoir or threatened by it. The records show something more specific.
The Bergen County Hazard Mitigation Plan puts 9.70 per cent of Oradell in FEMA's 1 per cent annual chance flood zone, or 11.85 per cent including the 0.2 per cent zone. FEMA records 37 flood insurance claims under the borough's NFIP community and two repetitive-loss properties. Most of those claims came in a handful of storms, above all Hurricane Ida in 2021 and Hurricane Irene in 2011. The reservoir that shares the borough's name is a water-supply store, not a flood-control dam. The borough has completed a borough-wide flood warning system.
The short version
- The Bergen County Hazard Mitigation Plan puts 9.70 per cent of Oradell in the FEMA 1 per cent flood zone (11.85 per cent including the 0.2 per cent zone).
- FEMA records 37 NFIP claims under the Oradell community; Hurricane Ida (8) and Hurricane Irene (7) account for 15 of them.
- The ZIP 07649 count of 43 claims quoted on our Oradell help page groups the same FEMA data by ZIP code instead.
- FEMA records a reservoir peak of 26.2 feet on 17 September 1999, against a spillway crest of 22.7 feet.
- NJDEP has said the Oradell dam was not built for flood control; the borough has completed a flood warning system.
How much of Oradell is in the flood zone
Table 4.6-1 of the county plan gives Oradell 1,637.41 acres, of which 158.80 acres are in the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area. That is 9.70 per cent, a little below neighbouring River Edge at 10.67 and well below New Milford at 13.80. The figure covers the borough's total area, and the US Census Bureau counts about 0.16 square miles of water in Oradell, so some of the zone is the reservoir and the river channel. For most addresses in the borough the mapped risk is low; for the minority near the water it is concentrated. Oradell's first flood map for FEMA was drawn up by the Army Corps of Engineers and dated February 1980, followed by a full flood study in April 1986.
Two counts of the same record
FEMA files flood claims by NFIP community, and under the Borough of Oradell it lists 37 claims over the life of the programme. Our Oradell help page quotes a different figure, 43 claims, because it counts every claim filed with the ZIP code 07649, and ZIP code boundaries do not line up exactly with NFIP community boundaries. Both are FEMA data, grouped two different ways. By year, the community count is led by 2021 with nine claims, eight of them attributed to Hurricane Ida, and 2011 with eight, seven of them from Hurricane Irene. Hurricane Floyd in 1999 adds three, as does 2022, and the April 2007 nor'easter two. FEMA's multiple-loss records, as of 2 August 2026, list two repetitive-loss properties, one of them severe.
The dam, the spillway and the river below
The Oradell Reservoir Dam is on the state's list of high hazard potential dams, a classification based on what would be at risk downstream if it failed, not a judgement of its condition. FEMA's flood study gives the spillway crest as 22.7 feet and records a peak of 26.2 feet on 17 September 1999, after Floyd, more than a foot above the previous record of 25.0 feet. Four other stages above 24 feet are listed, all between 1968 and 1975. FEMA explains that the lower Hackensack, Pascack Brook, Haunsmans Ditch and Dorotockey's Run all flood when the reservoir is high. After the April 2022 storm, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said, as reported by CBS New York, that the reservoir serves as a water supply and the dam was not built for flood control, and that it performed as designed. Local reporting recorded flood damage to more than a hundred homes and businesses in Oradell in that storm.
Where the downstream gauge is
The nearest National Weather Service river gauge is just below the borough, on the Hackensack at New Milford, where the river drains 113 square miles. FEMA gives its flood of record as 16 April 2007, at a flow of 11,600 cubic feet per second and a stage of 12.36 feet, with Irene the next highest by flow. That gauge is the best public guide to what the river below the dam is doing during a storm. For the reservoir, FEMA gives the 1 per cent annual chance level as 25.7 feet, shared by every borough on its shore.
What the borough has done
In the 2026 county plan, Oradell reports that it has completed a borough-wide flood warning system and removed earlier actions that were outside its control or not feasible. Its focus for the next five years is the Department of Public Works building: moving essential operations above flood level and adding backup power, so that the borough can keep working during a flood. The plan records the warning system as finished; residents can ask the borough how to receive its alerts.
What this means if you own or rent here
Oradell is nine-tenths owner-occupied, according to the US Census Bureau, and the median home was built in 1956, so flood decisions mostly rest with owners of mid-century houses. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center; if you are near the river below the dam or close to the reservoir, the zone line matters. The county plan counts only 22 active flood policies in the borough in October 2024. A new policy usually takes 30 days to start, so it cannot be bought once a storm like Ida is forecast. For the rest of the borough, the commoner risks are a sump that cannot keep up and a drain that backs up; both are worth checking before the wet season. Whether a loss is covered is decided by your insurer and your policy.
Common questions
Does Oradell, NJ flood?
Parts of it do, in big storms. FEMA records 37 flood insurance claims under the borough, most from Hurricane Ida in 2021 and Hurricane Irene in 2011. About a tenth of the borough is in the FEMA 1 per cent flood zone, near the river and reservoir.
Does the Oradell Reservoir prevent flooding?
No. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has said the reservoir is a water supply and the dam was not built for flood control. FEMA records that the lower Hackensack and several brooks flood when the reservoir is high.
Why do two pages give different claim counts for Oradell?
This page uses FEMA's count for the Borough of Oradell NFIP community, 37 claims. Our Oradell help page uses claims filed with ZIP code 07649, which come to 43. ZIP codes and NFIP communities are drawn differently; both counts come from the same FEMA dataset.
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