Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Echelon
Echelon isn’t graded for hazard risk: Echelon is a Census area inside a town, graded with the town. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2007.
What Echelon faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
Hurricanes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Echelon flood? Rarely: 3 flood claims since 2007
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Echelon, from FEMA’s records.
- The April 2007 nor’easter1 claim · $576
Echelon isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Camden County.The storms Echelon remembers
None of the 17 disasters declared for Camden County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Echelon itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 20071 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding, declared for Camden County
- 20101 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, declared for Camden County
- 20131 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Camden County has had 17 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees; the 2001 World Trade Center declarations.
Old photos of Echelon after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Echelon archive →Echelon and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gibbsboro | Aless damage than 91% | river and rain flooding | 3 |
| Voorhees Township | Aless damage than 89% | river and rain flooding | 10 |
| Lawnside | Aless damage than 88% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Somerdale | A−less damage than 84% | river and rain flooding | 7 |
| Lindenwold | A−less damage than 75% | river and rain flooding | 2 |
| Cherry Hill Township | Bless damage than 61% | river and rain flooding | 115 |
| Ashland | — | a Census area inside a town; graded with the town | |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Echelon faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Echelon
Does Echelon flood?
Flood insurance has paid 3 claims in Echelon since 2007, $200K in all. The most claims came from April 2007 Nor'easter (1).
Is Echelon in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Camden County, 34% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Echelon?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Echelon’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Echelon?
By flood claims, April 2007 Nor'easter: 1 paid, $576.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Echelon.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Echelon’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.