Hawaii County, Hawaii: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hawaii County, Hawaii has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 98.5 out of 100, higher than about 98% of US counties, with volcanic activity, earthquakes and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $365 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 33 federal disaster declarations that included Hawaii County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4951-HI (Hurricane Lala, declared 7 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 8 tornadoes touching Hawaii County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Hawaii All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 200,469 Buildings worth $40 billion Area 5,138 sq mi Risk rank in Hawaii 2 of 5 FIPS 15001
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volcanic activity | Very High | 100.0 | $26 million | about once every 45 years | 5 |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | 99.1 | $121 million | about once every 2.5 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 98.9 | $185 million | about 5.6 a year | 158 |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | 98.3 | $14 million | about once every 125 years | — |
| Lightning | Very High | 97.6 | $2.4 million | about 7 a year | 966,223 strikes |
| Tsunami | Relatively Moderate | 86.2 | $15 million | about once every 1.5 years | 147 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 84.1 | $23,175 | about 14 a year | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 68.3 | $447,385 | about once every 20 years | 8 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Low | 50.8 | $125,380 | about once every 1.3 years | — |
| Drought | Very Low | 27.6 | $15,774 | about 39 a year | 3,318 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 7.6 | $3,321 | about once every 140 years | 0 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 7.4 | $33,455 | about once every 31 years | 4 |
| Hail | Very Low | 4.3 | $8,369 | about once every 88 years | 0.5 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 2.9 | $14 | about once every 358 years | 0 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 2.6 | $11,312 | about once every 155 years | 1 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 1.7 | $504 | about 2 a year | 32 |
| Heat wave | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 33
Most common: Fire 12, Hurricane 6, Earthquake 4, Volcanic Eruption 3.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Earthquake ×2, Flood |
| 1990s | 2 | Hurricane, Volcanic Eruption |
| 2000s | 10 | Fire ×7, Severe Storm ×2, Earthquake |
| 2010s | 7 | Hurricane ×3, Volcanic Eruption ×2, Severe Storm, Tsunami |
| 2020s | 11 | Fire ×5, Hurricane ×2, Tropical Storm ×2, Earthquake, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Hawaii County
- Hurricane Iniki (1992, DR-961-HI): 5 Hawaii counties designated.
- Tropical Storm Nolo (2026, EM-3654-HI): 4 Hawaii counties designated.
- Hurricane Douglas (2020, EM-3529-HI): 4 Hawaii counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Lala (2026), Tropical Storm Nolo (2026), Hurricane Douglas (2020), Hurricane Lane (2018), Tropical Storm Olivia (2018), Tropical Storm Iselle (2014), Hurricane Iniki (1992).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Hawaii also had 10 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 8
| Tornadoes touching the county | 8 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | March (3) |
| Deadliest | 28 Jan 1971, F2, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 4 injured |
| Longest path | 28 Feb 2004, F0, 5 mi path |
| Most recent | 28 Feb 2004, F0, 5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 4 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Hawaii County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 98.5 | Volcanic activity |
| Maui County | 178 km | Relatively Moderate | 93.1 | Volcanic activity |
| Kalawao County | 230 km | Very Low | 0.1 | Earthquake |
| Honolulu County | 329 km | Relatively High | 98.8 | Lightning |
| Kauai County | 503 km | Relatively Moderate | 84.4 | Landslide |
| Marin County, CA | 3767 km | Relatively High | 96.4 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Hawaii, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 56.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 56.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.19 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $365 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Hawaii County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Hawaii · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Volcanic activity: US volcano alerts
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Hawaii County
What natural disasters is Hawaii County, Hawaii most at risk from?
Hawaii County, Hawaii has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 98.5 out of 100, higher than about 98% of US counties, with volcanic activity, earthquakes and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $365 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hawaii County had?
OpenFEMA lists 33 federal disaster declarations that included Hawaii County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4951-HI (Hurricane Lala, declared 7 October 2026). Another 10 Hawaii declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Hawaii County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 8 tornadoes touching Hawaii County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 28 Jan 1971, F2, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 4 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.