Natural hazards · Wailea

Wailea, HI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wailea comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1982. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wailea?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wailea to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding60%Earthquakes24%Tsunamis9%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Wailea faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Tsunamis

9% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesDroughtAvalanches

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 Wailea flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Wailea, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1982

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Maui County.

Disasters that hit Wailea

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WaileaDeclared for Maui County only

2023

Wildfires and High Winds

2 households applied for aid

Maui County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and hurricanes.

Around Wailea

Wailea and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Kiheimostly inland floodingVery high

Waileamostly inland floodingVery high

Makenamostly inland floodingHigh

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. Wailea covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Wailea total about $1.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.