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Natural hazards · Puako

Puako, HI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Puako comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

How exposed is Puako?

100
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding57%Earthquakes18%Wildfire11%Volcanic activity8%Tsunamis6%
By hazard

What Puako faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

18% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Wildfire

11% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Volcanic activity

8% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Tsunamis

6% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Puako flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Puako 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.
Disasters that hit Puako

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Hawaii County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Puako itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into PuakoDeclared for Hawaii County only
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. Puako 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 Puako’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Puako. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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