Eleele’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Eleele comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Eleele’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Eleele flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Eleele. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Eleele isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Kauai County.How exposed is Eleele?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.
Calmer than 134 of the 163 Hawaii towns we cover.
Eleele is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Eleele faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Wildfire
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Kauai County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Eleele itself in FEMA’s records.
Kauai County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.
Get ready for what Eleele actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- 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.
Eleele and its neighbors
How storm and flood risk compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanapepe | Very high | inland flooding | 0 |
| Eleele | Very high | inland flooding | 0 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Disasters here can come any time of year
The month each of Kauai County’s 15 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
- Compared by rate. “Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Eleele’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Eleele.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Eleele.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.