Natural hazards · Lawai

Lawai, HI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lawai 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 Lawai?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lawai to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding73%Wildfire19%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Lawai 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 · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Wildfire

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamis

Not a risk here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Lawai flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Lawai 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.

Disasters that hit Lawai

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LawaiDeclared for Kauai County only

2018

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

6 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

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

Around Lawai

Lawai and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Omaomostly inland floodingVery high

Lawaimostly inland floodingVery high

Kalaheomostly inland floodingVery high

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. Lawai 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 Lawai’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Lawai. 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.

Lawai, HI natural hazards

How exposed is Lawai?

What Lawai faces

Inland flooding

Wildfire

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Lawai flood?

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Lawai and the towns around it

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

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