Flooding in Ringwood, New Jersey: the record, the creeks, and the reservoirs
Ringwood holds some of the biggest bodies of water in northern New Jersey, yet its flood insurance record is one of the shortest in Passaic County. The risks here are local: brooks running off steep ground into the reservoirs, culverts under rural roads, and basements in hillside houses.
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program records 24 flood claims in Ringwood over the life of the programme and one repetitive-loss property. Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 produced the most. FEMA's flood study names the Wanaque River, Ringwood Creek, Cupsaw Brook and West Brook as the borough's flood sources, the last three all running into the Wanaque Reservoir. With 96 per cent of households owning their homes, according to the US Census Bureau, the practical questions are about the owner's own building and its cover.
The short version
- FEMA NFIP records show 24 lifetime flood claims in Ringwood and one repetitive-loss property.
- Hurricane Floyd (5 claims) and Hurricane Irene (4) are the worst storms in the borough's record.
- FEMA's flood study names the Wanaque River, Ringwood Creek, Cupsaw Brook and West Brook as Ringwood's flood sources.
- FEMA states that Passaic County dams, including those at the reservoirs, are not managed as flood protection structures.
- Of Ringwood's three 2021 claims, two were from Tropical Storm Henri rather than Ida.
The record in numbers
FEMA's OpenFEMA data lists 24 NFIP flood claims for the Borough of Ringwood. By year of loss, 2011 has the most (6), followed by 1999 (5), 2021 (3) and 2010 (2). By named event, Hurricane Floyd accounts for 5, Hurricane Irene for 4, and the March 2010 nor'easter and Tropical Storm Henri for 2 each. FEMA's Multiple Loss Properties data, as of 2 August 2026, shows one repetitive-loss property and no severe repetitive-loss properties. The US Census Bureau counts 11,657 residents and 4,252 housing units, which by our calculation works out at under six claims per 1,000 homes over the whole record. The median year built is 1964, and only 3.8 per cent of households rent, among the lowest shares in the county.
Which waters FEMA maps here
FEMA's countywide Flood Insurance Study for Passaic County, revised April 17, 2020, lists the Wanaque River as a flood source for Ringwood, Wanaque and Pompton Lakes. For Ringwood it adds three streams: Ringwood Creek, Cupsaw Brook and West Brook. The study's detailed mapping of each begins at its confluence with the Wanaque Reservoir and runs upstream, so the brooks that cause trouble here are the ones feeding the reservoir rather than the river leaving it. The US Geological Survey operates a gauge on Ringwood Creek near Wanaque, within the borough; it measures a drainage area of 17.9 square miles, and FEMA based its Ringwood Creek flood estimates on that gauge's record. Several of Cupsaw Brook's mapped branches still rest on analysis completed in December 1978.
The reservoirs and dams
People in Ringwood sometimes assume the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs protect them from flooding, or threaten them. FEMA's study is careful on both points. It includes Monksville Reservoir and Wanaque Reservoir in its hydrologic model of the Pompton River basin because their storage affects large floods downstream. But it states plainly that dams in Passaic County are not managed as flood protection structures, and their effects are not built into the flood hazard mapping. The 2010 county hazard mitigation plan, as reproduced by FEMA, listed a dam inundation study of Monksville Dam among Ringwood's actions. Dam failure is a separate question from ordinary flooding, and an inundation study is how officials work out which properties would be affected if one occurred.
Roads, culverts and the 2021 claims
The other Ringwood actions in the 2010 county plan describe a rural borough's exposure: backup power, impact-resistant shutters and floodproofed utilities for the Municipal Building, upgrades to stormwater culverts along McGee Road, and mapping and capping of old iron mines. In a place of steep slopes and narrow brooks, an undersized or blocked culvert is often what turns heavy rain into water across a road or into a yard. The 2021 claims are a reminder that the dangerous storms are not always the famous ones. Of Ringwood's three claims that year, the FEMA data ties two to Tropical Storm Henri, not to Ida, which caused far more claims elsewhere in the county.
Water damage most owners will actually see
With one repetitive-loss property in the borough, mapped flooding is a concern for a small number of homes near the streams and the reservoir edges. For most Ringwood owners the commoner problems are groundwater in basements cut into hillsides, runoff from higher ground collecting against a foundation, and sump pumps losing power when storms bring down trees and lines. If your home relies on a private well or a septic system, flooding of the wellhead or the septic field is worth asking a licensed professional about after any major storm. How any of these losses is treated depends on the policy: flood is a separate policy from homeowners insurance, and seepage and sewer or septic backup carry their own wording. Whether a particular loss is covered is decided by your insurer.
What this means if you own or rent here
Start with the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for your address, particularly if you are near Ringwood Creek, Cupsaw Brook, West Brook or the reservoir shoreline. Keep culverts and drainage ditches on your own land clear of leaves and debris before the autumn storm season. Plan for power loss: a battery or generator backup for the sump pump is worth more in a wooded borough than in most places. If you are considering flood insurance outside a mapped zone, FEMA's FloodSmart site reports that nearly one third of NFIP claims from 2014 to 2024 came from outside high-risk areas, and a new policy normally takes effect 30 days after purchase, so it cannot be arranged once a storm is named.
Common questions
Does Ringwood, NJ flood?
Not often, by the FEMA record: 24 NFIP claims over the life of the programme and one repetitive-loss property. FEMA's flood study maps flood hazards along the Wanaque River, Ringwood Creek, Cupsaw Brook and West Brook, so homes near those streams or the reservoir edges should check their zone.
Do the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs protect Ringwood from flooding?
FEMA's Flood Insurance Study states that the county's dams are not managed as flood protection structures and their effects are not included in the flood maps. The reservoirs' storage does affect how floods move downstream, which is why FEMA includes them in its model of the Pompton basin.
Which storms caused flood claims in Ringwood?
FEMA's NFIP data ties 5 claims to Hurricane Floyd in 1999, 4 to Hurricane Irene in 2011, and 2 each to the March 2010 nor'easter and Tropical Storm Henri in 2021. The single year with the most claims was 2011, with 6.
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