New Jersey's outage exposure stacks coastal flood risk along the Shore with dense inland severe-storm exposure across Bergen, Burlington, and Camden — county-level context is essential for realistic sizing.
Sandy (2012) defines the worst-case scenario for New Jersey coastal resilience, but the current outage pattern is driven by recurring severe storms, strong winds, and nor'easters — events that cut power across both Shore and inland counties multiple times per decade.
Mixed Wind, Storm, and Coastal-Flood Outage Risk
New Jersey's NOAA outage-event mix is led by thunderstorm wind (4,010 events), strong wind (1,874), and flash flooding (1,387) over the 2005-2024 analysis window. Burlington, Ocean, Monmouth, and Bergen lead county-level event counts. These are recurring events across multiple utility territories — JCP&L, PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric all serve different portions of the state.
The BPI layer flags Ocean, Bergen, Monmouth, and Camden as the counties with the strongest overlap of storm frequency and medical-device density. Ocean County's emPOWER count (6,017) is the highest in the state and reflects a large older coastal population with significant medical-equipment dependence. This is the county where Sandy caused the most extended outages and where grid restoration timelines remain longest in major coastal events.
Sandy is now more than a decade in the past and sits outside the 2014-2023 federal declaration window displayed on this page. It remains the planning anchor for worst-case coastal flooding in the Shore area, but the working outage model for most New Jersey households should be sized for a recurring severe-storm or nor'easter scenario — not a once-in-a-generation direct hurricane strike.
FEMA DR-4725 — severe storms and flooding across New Jersey in 2023; one of 4 severe-storm declarations in the 2014-2023 federal record. Hurricane Sandy (2012) remains the historical upper bound for Shore-area outage planning but falls outside the 2014-2023 federal-count window shown on this page.
Source: FEMA DR-4725Evidence trail
These notes trace the editorial claims above back to FEMA, DOE, utility, or other cited records.
FEMA declaration count (10) from OpenFEMA API, deduplicated by disaster number, DR/EM/FM types, 2014-2023; New Jersey's mix in this window includes Severe Storm (4), Hurricane (3), Snowstorm (1), and Biological (2). Hurricane Sandy (DR-4086, 2012) falls outside this display window.
NRI composite score (94.4) from FEMA NRI county layer, population-weighted to state level; top modeled hazards are Strong Wind, Winter Weather, and Riverine Flooding.
NOAA outage-relevant event mix is led by Thunderstorm Wind (4,010), Strong Wind (1,874), Flash Flood (1,387), Flood (744), and Winter Storm (696), with Burlington, Ocean, Monmouth, and Bergen leading county counts.
HHS emPOWER counts 54,245 electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries statewide; Ocean (6,017), Bergen (4,676), Middlesex (4,299), Monmouth (4,232), and Camden (4,000) are the strongest county anchors. Ocean, Bergen, Monmouth, and Camden are the top BPI counties in the GeneratorChecker cross-signal layer.
New Jersey Severe Storms and Flooding DR-4725 from FEMA disaster declaration records.
Structured FEMA NRI, HHS emPOWER, NOAA Storm Events, and EIA methodology is documented separately on the methodology page.
NRI composite score of 94.4 reflects relatively high composite modeled hazard exposure; top modeled hazards are Strong Wind, Winter Weather, and Riverine Flooding, with 4 of 10 federal declarations in the 2014-2023 window severe-storm-related..
NOAA storm-event records filtered to outage-relevant event types for New Jersey. Counts reflect historical storm-event assignments, not confirmed utility outages.
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Included storm-event records
10,082
Source as of
2026-03
Included exact NOAA event types for New Jersey: Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado, High Wind, Strong Wind, Flash Flood, Flood, Hurricane (Typhoon), Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression, Storm Surge/Tide, Winter Storm, Ice Storm, Freezing Rain, Heavy Snow, Blizzard.
In this filtered NOAA record set for New Jersey, Jul has the highest monthly count (1,890 records) , and Thunderstorm Wind is the leading event type. This chart shows frequency in NOAA records, not how severe a specific outage may be.
16 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
10 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
5 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
34 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
67.5% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
48.1% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
53.9% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
84.0% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
73.4% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
29.2% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
With the current New Jersey NWS county crosswalk, mapped forecast zones are effectively 1:1 with counties; unresolved legacy or coastal forecast zones fall into the excluded bucket.
Direct county match
61.0%
Mapped from forecast zone
38.0%
Not assigned to county ranking
1.0%
Unresolved forecast zones
3
County-level HHS emPOWER counts for electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries in New Jersey.
54,245 Medicare beneficiaries in New Jersey have claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. (HHS emPOWER, 2026-03)
County-level HHS emPOWER records for this state. Medicare enrollment data only. 21 counties are included in this state snapshot.
Counties with higher concentrations may face elevated community-level demand for backup power during outages. This does not indicate individual medical necessity.
Limitations: Reflects Medicare beneficiaries with claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. Does not capture non-Medicare or uninsured populations. HHS masks cells from 1 to 10 as 11.
The GeneratorChecker Backup Priority Index is a county shortlist for backup planning, combining historically frequent outage-relevant storm activity with larger county counts of electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries. It is planning context, not a forecast or an outage guarantee.
BPI version
v1.0
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Matched counties
21
Counties qualify for the public BPI only when both signals land at or above the 80th percentile within the state. The shortlist excludes low-base medical counties and counties with less than 30% direct NOAA county matching.
Qualifying counties shown on the page: 4.
Percentiles are computed within New Jersey only and are not comparable across states.
1. OCEAN
County FIPS 34029
At-risk Medicare count
6,017
Storm-event records
775
Direct NOAA county match
48.1%
2. BERGEN
County FIPS 34003
At-risk Medicare count
4,676
Storm-event records
699
Direct NOAA county match
84.0%
3. MONMOUTH
County FIPS 34025
At-risk Medicare count
4,232
Storm-event records
726
Direct NOAA county match
53.9%
4. CAMDEN
County FIPS 34007
At-risk Medicare count
4,000
Storm-event records
531
Direct NOAA county match
73.4%
For Ocean and Shore counties, model a 48-hour coastal storm scenario. For Bergen, Camden, and inland counties, a 24-hour severe-storm case is the primary planning model.
Primary inland New Jersey scenario: severe thunderstorm or nor'easter takes down local distribution lines overnight.
Load
698W
Target
24h
Minimum
27,600 Wh
Covers the most common Bergen, Burlington, and Camden outage window. Shore households should plan for 48 hours.
Size this scenario in calculatorOcean and Monmouth County scenario: coastal storm or significant nor'easter with extended outage and potential flood-access delays.
Load
421W
Target
48h
Minimum
33,300 Wh
Sandy established the upper planning bound for this corridor. Most coastal events fall in the 24–72 hour range for restoration.
Size this scenario in calculatorCritical Note: No single portable power station in our database covers the full 24-hour baseline at this load (27,600 Wh target vs. 6,144 Wh max in our current database). Use solar recharge, load rotation, or expandable systems for longer events.
Sizing for Sandy-scale outages when Shore counties more commonly see 24–48 hour severe-storm windows.
Ignoring the dense medical-device population in Ocean County, where emPOWER counts are the highest in the state.
Treating New Jersey as a single uniform exposure when Shore counties and inland Bergen or Camden have meaningfully different outage profiles.
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Composite score: 94.4 / 100
Rating: Relatively High
Top modeled hazards: Strong Wind, Winter Weather, Riverine Flooding
Hurricane score: 90.0
Winter Weather score: 96.8
Wildfire score: 50.4
Total (2014-2023): 10
Most recent: 2023-08-11 Severe Storm
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Severe Storm | 4 |
| Hurricane | 3 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Snowstorm | 1 |
Required Wh = (Total Load W × Target Hours / Inverter Derate) × Safety Factor
Inverter derate: 0.70 (30% real-world loss)
Safety factor: 1.15
Rounding: Up to nearest 100 Wh
New Jersey has an NRI composite risk score of 94.4 (Relatively High), with 10 federal declarations from 2014 to 2023. NRI composite score of 94.4 reflects relatively high composite modeled hazard exposure; top modeled hazards are Strong Wind, Winter Weather, and Riverine Flooding, with 4 of 10 federal declarations in the 2014-2023 window severe-storm-related..
For the primary scenario on this page (24-hour severe storm support), the estimated minimum is 27,600 Wh for a 24-hour target. Refine this in the calculator with your actual devices.
NRI is a modeled risk index based on hazard exposure, vulnerability, and expected loss. FEMA declarations reflect federally declared incidents. They answer different questions — use both signals together for planning.
Buying a unit sized only for phone and laptop charging when Ocean or Monmouth County households need refrigeration and medical-device support through a multi-day coastal outage. See the common mistakes section above for more state-specific pitfalls.
