Natural hazards · Pahala

Pahala, HI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pahala comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pahala?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding32%Volcanic activity9%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Pahala faces

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

Earthquakes

57% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Volcanic activity

9% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamis

Not a risk here

Heat wavesAvalanches

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 Pahala flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pahala isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Hawaii County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Pahala

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PahalaDeclared for Hawaii County only

2026

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

8 households applied for aid $60K aid approved

2018

Kilauea Volcanic Eruption and Earthquakes

3 households applied for aid

2006

Earthquake

5 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

Hawaii County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and hurricanes.

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

Pahala, HI natural hazards

How exposed is Pahala?

What Pahala faces

Earthquakes

Inland flooding

Volcanic activity

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Pahala flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Kilauea Volcanic Eruption and Earthquakes

Earthquake

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby