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MOUNTAIN LAKES HISTORIC DISTRICT, MORRIS COUNTYPhoto: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
A−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Mountain Lakes · FEMA

Less hazard damage per building is expected in Mountain Lakes than in 77% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Mountain Lakes gets an A− for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 77% of U.S. towns, #69 of 468 in New Jersey. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (86%). Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1990.

River and rain flooding 86%Hurricanes 6%Earthquakes 4%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

less than 77%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade#69 of 468 in New Jersey
Hazard risk
A−#69 of 468
in New Jersey · lower than 77% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
86% of expected building damage
Flood claims
4
paid since 1990 · $32K
Disasters paid out here
12
of 25 declared for Morris County
By hazard

What Mountain Lakes 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

86%of expected building damage
About average · lower than 52% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 10 years in the area
Smaller shares here
 Earthquakes Tornadoes Strong wind Winter storms Hail Lightning Ice storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingWildfireAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 8% of Mountain Lakes’ expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Mountain Lakes’ grade

River and rain flooding is 86% of the building damage FEMA expects in Mountain Lakes, and Mountain Lakes’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 52% of U.S. census tracts. Next is hurricanes at 6% (higher than 67% of U.S. census tracts).

Where Mountain Lakes sits
Mountain Lakes
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A− #69 of 468 in New Jersey; lower expected damage per building than 77% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Mountain Lakes’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding86%Hurricanes6%Earthquakes4%Everything else4%

The typical New Jersey town has higher expected damage than 56% of U.S. towns; within the state, Mountain Lakes has less expected damage per building than 85% of New Jersey towns.

In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.6M a year in losses across Mountain Lakes: $1.3M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Mountain Lakes’ 4,472 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Mountain Lakes flood? Rarely: 4 flood claims since 1990

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Mountain Lakes, from FEMA’s records: 2.7 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 55% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1990: 1 claim1991: 0 claims1992: 0 claims1993: 0 claims1994: 0 claims1995: 0 claims1996: 2 claims1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 1 claim2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 0 claims2005: 0 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims199019961999
19902026
Biggest named events
  • Hurricane Floyd1 claim · $17K
4
paid claims since 1990
$32K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$8K
average claim
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Mountain Lakes isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Morris County.
Disasters

12 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Mountain Lakes

Disasters that paid out in Mountain Lakes itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Borough of Mountain Lakes), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2021Remnants of Hurricane Ida9 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
  2. 2021Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$19K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  3. 2020Tropical Storm Isaias$112K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  4. 2018Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$89K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  5. 2016Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$29K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  6. 2012Hurricane Sandy114 households applied for aid$11K aid approved$652K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
Show all 12
  1. 2011Severe Storm$126K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  2. 2011Hurricane Irene11 households applied for aid$17K aid approved$70K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  3. 2010Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$16K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  4. 2010Severe Storms and Flooding$43K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs
  5. 2007Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding3 households applied for aid$690 aid approved
  6. 1999Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations$27K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs1 flood claim paid for it, $17K
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Mountain LakesMorris County only

Morris County has had 25 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees; the 2001 World Trade Center declarations.

Were you here?

Old photos of Mountain Lakes after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Mountain Lakes archive →
Next door

Mountain Lakes and its neighbors

Mountain Lakes has the lowest expected damage per building of the 4 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Township: hazard risk C−Boonton: hazard risk DRainbow Lakes: not gradedParsippany: not gradedBoonton Township: hazard risk DParsippany-Troy Hills TownshipBoontonRainbow LakesParsippanyBoonton TownshipMountain Lakes
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Mountain LakesA−less damage than 77%river and rain flooding4
Parsippany-Troy Hills TownshipC−more damage than 77%river and rain flooding542
Boonton TownshipDmore damage than 87%river and rain flooding47
BoontonDmore damage than 91%river and rain flooding9
Rainbow Lakes—a Census area inside a town; graded with the town
Parsippany—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.

Be ready

Get ready for what Mountain Lakes faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Hurricane season
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Mountain Lakes

Is Mountain Lakes at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Mountain Lakes has lower expected damage per building than 77% of U.S. towns: A− for hazard risk, #69 of 468 in New Jersey. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (86%) and hurricanes (6%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Mountain Lakes flood?

Flood insurance has paid 4 claims in Mountain Lakes since 1990, $32K in all, or 2.7 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 55% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record. The most claims came from Hurricane Floyd (1).

Is Mountain Lakes 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 Morris County, 1.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.

How much is flood insurance in Mountain Lakes?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Mountain Lakes’ 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 Mountain Lakes?

By FEMA money that reached Mountain Lakes, Hurricane Sandy (2012): 114 households applied for aid, $11K approved, and $652K to the Borough of Mountain Lakes for repairs. By flood claims, Hurricane Floyd: 1 paid, $17K.

Is Mountain Lakes at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (86%), and Mountain Lakes’ rate for it is lower than 52% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Mountain Lakes.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Mountain Lakes’ 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.