Palau natural disasters
The freely associated state's storm and disaster record · 0 counties and county equivalents
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 25 storm events in Palau since 1950, 25 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded. The most frequent records are drought records (12). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest event in Palau is the December 22, 2024 rip current: 1 death and 1 injury. FEMA has made 1 declaration for Palau since 1990; one was a major disaster.
The record, 1950 to 2026
Storm events recorded in Palau each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- 1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
- 1996: all 48 event types from 1996
- Storm events recorded
- 251950 to June 30, 2026
- Deaths recorded
- 25 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $20Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
- FEMA declarations
- 11 major disaster
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.
What natural disasters happen in Palau?
By NOAA's records, Palau's most frequent hazards are drought records (12), hurricane and tropical storm records (5), rip current and surf records (3); the deadliest are rip current and surf records (2 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.
| Hazard | Records | Last 10 years | Killed | Injured | Damage | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | $123K | 0 of 0 |
| Hurricanes and tropical storms | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | $19M | 0 of 0 |
| Rip currents and high surf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | – | 0 of 0 |
| Floods | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | $16K | 0 of 0 |
| Landslides and avalanches | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $304K | 0 of 0 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $80K | 0 of 0 |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).
What were the deadliest disasters in Palau?
The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-12-22 | Rip CurrentBelau · forecast zone Belau According to a news article in the Islands Times, a newspaper in Palau, two men from Ngaraard went fishing of the east side of island when their kayak overturned Some time after noon. One man, 32 years old, was swept out to sea, while the other, age not given, grabbed onto a buoy within the channel. The man who ... | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2017-03-30 | Rip CurrentBelau · forecast zone Belau A 37-year-old man died on the reef just off of Ipan Talofofo, Guam. Guam Fire Department responded to a beach along the east side of Guam after 23:40 on the night of the 30th. At that time fire department personnel pulled a distressed fisherman to safety. The fisherman told the firefighters that he and a few other ... | 1 | 1 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest records in Palau
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-12-02 | Hurricane (Typhoon)Belau · forecast zone Belau | 0 | 0 | $13M | |
| 2021-04-14 | Hurricane (Typhoon)Belau · forecast zone Belau | 0 | 0 | $6.4M | |
| 2005-12-15 | Debris FlowBelau · forecast zone Belau | 0 | 0 | $302K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.
Federal disaster declarations in Palau
FEMA has made 1 declaration for Palau since 1990: one major disaster, 0 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are typhoon (1).
| Declared | Number | Type | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-11-28 | DR-882 | Typhoon | Typhoon Mike | 1 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.