Natural hazards · Hanalei

Hanalei, HI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hanalei comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Hanalei?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hanalei to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tsunamis.

Inland flooding73%Tsunamis25%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Hanalei faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tsunamis

25% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

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

Flood insurance claims

Does Hanalei flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Hanalei.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hanalei 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Hanalei

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Hanalei itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Hanalei.

Brought FEMA money into HanaleiDeclared for Kauai County only

2018

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

327 households applied for aid $475K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

5 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Kauai County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’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 here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Hanalei is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hanalei’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Hanalei. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.

Hanalei, HI natural hazards

How exposed is Hanalei?

What Hanalei faces

Inland flooding

Tsunamis

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Hanalei flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby