Community preparedness — New Jersey
Hurricanes, nor'easters, coastal flooding, tornadoes, and extreme heat across the most densely populated state in the country. Rutgers Extension in all 21 counties. 30+ ham radio clubs. CERT teams from Cape May to Sussex. Here's the network.
Enter your ZIP to find volunteer groups, training programs, civic organizations, and mutual aid networks in your area.
Organizations and programs near you
Emergency response & training
Food & mutual aid
Skills & learning
Civic & service organizations
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Community calendar
CERT trainings, canning workshops, ham radio exams, garden workdays, first aid classes.
21
County extension offices
2
NWS forecast offices
30+
Amateur radio clubs
18
County colleges
Where to plug in
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, with 21 counties spanning urban industrial north Jersey, dense suburbs, farmland, the Pine Barrens, and a 130-mile coastline that gets hit by every nor'easter and hurricane that moves up the Atlantic seaboard. These organizations serve that entire range.
Rutgers Cooperative Extension operates offices in all 21 New Jersey counties. NJ's agricultural economy — blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, peaches, nursery plants — is supported by extension across the state. Programming spans agriculture, horticulture, food safety, nutrition, financial literacy, 4-H youth development, and community development.
The Master Gardener program is one of the most active in the Northeast. Extension runs food preservation workshops, storm preparedness education, coastal resilience programming, and urban agriculture in cities like Newark, Trenton, and Camden. After Sandy, extension helped agricultural producers assess damage and navigate USDA disaster programs.
The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM), under the NJ State Police, coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program through county OEM offices. NJ's EM system is shaped by coastal storms, nor'easters, flooding, tornado risk, extreme heat, and the challenges of serving a densely populated state with major infrastructure.
CERT programs are active in all 21 counties. Ocean, Monmouth, Cape May, Atlantic, and Cumberland counties — all with significant coastal storm risk — have especially strong programs. After Sandy devastated the Shore in October 2012, CERT enrollment surged across coastal counties. Training is free.
American Red Cross chapters serve all of New Jersey through the NJ Region, with chapters in Northern NJ (Parsippany), Central NJ (Somerset), and Southern NJ (Cherry Hill). First aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes are offered year-round statewide.
During Sandy, Red Cross ran one of the largest shelter operations in its Atlantic Region history, opening shelters from Cape May to Bergen County and serving hundreds of thousands of affected residents. NJ Red Cross deploys for nor'easters, coastal storms, and home fires in dense urban areas daily. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, feeding, and blood drives.
New Jersey has over 30 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL New Jersey Section, part of the Atlantic Division. ARES teams were critically active during Sandy, providing emergency communications for shelters and county OEMs when cell networks were overloaded and parts of the state had no power for weeks.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org. Clubs in Newark, Trenton, Cherry Hill, the Shore counties, and throughout the state host exams regularly.
Two NWS offices serve New Jersey: Mt Holly/Philadelphia (most of NJ, including the Shore, South Jersey, and central NJ) and New York/Upton (northeastern NJ, including the NYC suburbs). Each runs SKYWARN spotter training before severe weather season.
NJ's weather hazards include nor'easters with coastal flooding and heavy snow, hurricanes and tropical storms, severe thunderstorms with damaging hail and tornadoes (NJ averages about 2 tornadoes per year), extreme heat and humidity, and flash flooding. The state's coastal geography amplifies storm surge dramatically. Training is free.
New Jersey has over 300 public library locations overseen by the NJ State Library. Newark Public Library, Jersey City Free Public Library, Trenton Free Public Library, and county library systems run extensive community programming. NJ libraries are heavily used and serve some of the state's most diverse communities.
New Jersey has 18 county colleges, including Bergen Community College, Middlesex County College, Ocean County College, Atlantic Cape Community College, and Camden County College. They offer affordable continuing education in EMT certification, fire science, nursing, welding, HVAC, electrical work, and cybersecurity.
Why this matters
On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall near Brigantine, New Jersey as a post-tropical cyclone with a massive storm surge that flooded communities from Cape May to Hoboken. Seaside Heights, Toms River, Union Beach, Sea Bright, Mantoloking — entire shore communities were devastated. The surge pushed water miles inland. Power went out to 2.7 million New Jersey customers, some for weeks.
NJ CERT teams, trained before the storm, deployed to shelters and conducted welfare checks on vulnerable residents before official resources could fully mobilize. Ham radio operators provided emergency communications for county OEMs when both cell service and landlines were overwhelmed. Volunteer fire companies ran boat rescues in flooded neighborhoods.
Red Cross opened dozens of shelters from the Shore counties north through the Hudson Valley corridor. Rutgers Extension helped coastal agricultural and fishing communities assess damage and navigate recovery. Mutual aid networks that had never been formally organized emerged spontaneously in the hardest-hit communities, as neighbors helped neighbors dig out.
New Jersey's coastline will face Sandy-scale events again. The organizations on this page exist so that when it happens, the community response is faster, better trained, and better coordinated than it was in 2012.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours