FEMA Records
31
High volume
Hawaii · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hawaii County, HI
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 16
- Major disasters
- 99
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Hawaii County. Its 31 FEMA declarations are 50% above the Hawaii county mean and exceed the count for 88% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 1%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 800
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
How does Hawaii County compare?
Hawaii County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
31 Top 12% higher than 88% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-03
Hawaii County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Hawaii county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Hawaii County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $185.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Volcanic Activity carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Hawaii County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 800 claims and $23.0M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $28.7K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Hawaii County's 31 federal records stand 50% above the Hawaii county mean of 20.6. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.5/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $365.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Volcanic Activity stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 45 years here, based on 5 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 31 entries for Hawaii County, including 16 Major Disaster records, 50% above the Hawaii county mean. Across the 53-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Fire leads the file with 12 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
74 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hawaii County, HI · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) High
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
19/25
31 declarations (1.5x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
16 of 31 declarations are major disasters (52%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Hawaii County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Hawaii Avg
+50%
State avg: 20.6
vs. National Avg
+50%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 53 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hawaii County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
52%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
99
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hawaii County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Volcanic Activity | Very High | roughly once every 45 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 5.6 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 125 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 70 times per year |
| Tsunami | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 14 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 20 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 39 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 140 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 31 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 87 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 358 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 155 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 2 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 12
Hurricane 5
Volcanic Eruption 3
Severe Storm 3
Earthquake 3
Flood 2
Biological 2
Tsunami 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Hawaii County's record, 39% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 16 51.6%
of all 31 declarations
Fire Management - 11 35.5%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 4 12.9%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 4 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5650 | KAWAIHAE ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2026-07-26 |
| 4909 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2026-04-07 |
| 4724 | WILDFIRES AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Fire | 2023-08-10 |
| 5478 | MAUNA KEA BEACH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2023-08-09 |
| 5474 | KOHALA RANCH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2023-08-08 |
| 5404 | MANA ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2021-08-01 |
| 3529 | HURRICANE DOUGLAS | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-25 |
| 4510 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-01 |
| 3431 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4395 | HURRICANE LANE | DR | Hurricane | 2018-09-27 |
| 3404 | TROPICAL STORM OLIVIA | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-12 |
| 3399 | HURRICANE LANE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-08-22 |
| 4366 | KILAUEA VOLCANIC ERUPTION AND EARTHQUAKES | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 2018-05-11 |
| 4201 | PU'U O'O VOLCANIC ERUPTION AND LAVA FLOW | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 2014-11-03 |
| 4194 | TROPICAL STORM ISELLE | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-09-12 |
| 1967 | TSUNAMI WAVES | DR | Tsunami | 2011-04-08 |
| 1743 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH SURF, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-02-06 |
| 2740 | PUAKO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2007-10-28 |
| 2722 | KOHALA MOUNTAIN ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2007-08-17 |
| 1664 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 2006-10-17 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2574 | AKONI PULE HIGHWAY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2005-08-04 |
| 2573 | LALAMILO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2005-08-02 |
| 2556 | KAWAIHAE ROAD FIRE HAWAII | FM | Fire | 2004-09-14 |
| 2468 | HI - WAIKOLOA VILLAGE FIRE - 05/18/2003 | FM | Fire | 2003-05-18 |
| 1348 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-11-09 |
| 2293 | HAWAII COUNTY FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2000-03-20 |
| 961 | HURRICANE INIKI | DR | Hurricane | 1992-09-12 |
| 864 | LAVA FLOW, KILAUEA VOLCANO | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 1990-05-18 |
| 573 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-03-07 |
| 490 | EARTHQUAKE, SEISMIC WAVES & VOLCANIC ERUPTION | DR | Earthquake | 1975-12-07 |
| 383 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 1973-05-16 |
Storm Events in Hawaii
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Hawaii County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Surf | 3,536 | 20 | 28 | $672.0K |
| Heavy Rain | 1,044 | 4 | 2 | $0 |
| Drought | 899 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 223 | 6 | 4 | $125.1M |
| Strong Wind | 127 | 0 | 11 | $555.8K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
800
Total Paid
$23.0M
Avg Per Claim
$28.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$365.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Volcanic Activity Very High
Earthquake Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively High
Lightning Very High
Tsunami Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Hail Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Heat Wave No Rating
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Volcanic Activity
Volcanic Activity is the rarest hazard in the model and the most locally determined. Its modeled exposure follows proximity to specific known systems rather than any regional pattern.
Worth noting for Hawaii County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Volcanic Activity carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Hawaii County's closest FEMA peer: Orangeburg County, SC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hawaii County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Hawaii County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Hawaii County: 16 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hawaii County: NRI composite 98.5 (Relatively High).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Hawaii County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Hawaii County's NFIP claims file (800 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Hawaii County?
The most common disaster type in Hawaii County is Fire, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (5), Volcanic Eruption (3), Severe Storm (3).
How does Hawaii County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Hawaii average?
FEMA lists 31 declaration records for Hawaii County. That is 50% above the Hawaii county mean of 20.6. Its count is also 50% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Hawaii County received?
Hawaii County has received 16 major disaster declarations, representing 52% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hawaii County filed?
Hawaii County has 800 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $23.0M in payments, with an average of $28.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Hawaii County?
No. In Hawaii County, Volcanic Activity has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $185.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hawaii County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hawaii County was 2018, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hawaii County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hawaii County, Hawaii has an overall risk score of 98.5 out of 100 (Relatively High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $365.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hawaii County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Hawaii County as of the latest release is Volcanic Activity (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Earthquake (Relatively High) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts volcanic activity here at roughly once every 45 years, drawn from 5 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
What this means for Hawaii County
Hawaii County, HI has 31 federal declaration records, 50% more than the Hawaii county mean of 21; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 16 of 31 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Hawaii overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Hawaii mean and the totals for 88% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.