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Hawaii
The recorded hazard history of every county in Hawaii: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.
Hawaii has 6,089 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 5 counties, led by other events: 94.8 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.
NCEI attributes 133 deaths and 127 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $6.9B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Honolulu, Kauai and Maui.
FEMA lists 75 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Tropical Storm Nolo (25 Sep 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 6,285 flood claims since 1978, $168M paid; 11,829 residential policies are in force.
NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.
Compared with the United States
| Measure | Hawaii | US |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded events since 1950 | 6,089 | 1,977,440 |
| Events per 100 square miles | 94.8 | 56.0 |
| Events per 10,000 residents | 42.2 | 59.6 |
| Deaths recorded by NCEI | 133 | 26,435 |
| Property damage (NCEI estimates) | $6.9B | $575B |
| NFIP claims per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 8.1 |
| Average paid NFIP claim | $42K | $43K |
| Residential flood policies in force | 11,829 | 3,139,862 |
Hazard mix
Events by decade
Counties by events per 100 square miles
| County | Events | Last 12 mo | Per 100 sq mi | Per 10k residents | Dominant | Tornadoes | Hail | Declarations | NFIP claims | NRI risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu County | 932 | 16 | 155.2 | 9.3 | Other | 20 | 7 | 24 | 3,069 | Relatively High |
| Kauai County | 575 | 3 | 92.8 | 78.3 | Other | 6 | 1 | 19 | 1,495 | Relatively Moderate |
| Maui County | 961 | 11 | 82.7 | 58.5 | Other | 5 | 3 | 31 | 819 | Relatively Moderate |
| Hawaii County | 956 | 8 | 23.7 | 47.1 | Other | 10 | 11 | 34 | 800 | Relatively High |
| Kalawao County | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Very Low |
Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).
Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force
| County | Claims, last 10 years | Policies in force | Claims per 100 policies | Claims since 1978 | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kauai County | 351 | 1,647 | 21.3 | 1,495 | $48M |
| Maui County | 293 | 2,033 | 14.4 | 819 | $26M |
| Honolulu County | 790 | 6,934 | 11.4 | 3,069 | $70M |
| Hawaii County | 80 | 1,215 | 6.6 | 800 | $23M |
Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.
Federal disaster declarations by year
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Fire | 29 |
| Flood | 13 |
| Severe Storm | 9 |
| Hurricane | 6 |
| Earthquake | 5 |
| Volcanic Eruption | 4 |
| Tropical Storm | 2 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Other | 2 |
| Mud/Landslide | 1 |
Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Sep 2026 | EM-3654 | Emergency | Tropical Storm | Tropical Storm Nolo | 4 |
| 1 Sep 2026 | DR-4936 | Major disaster | Earthquake | Earthquake | 1 |
| 25 Aug 2026 | EM-3652 | Emergency | Tropical Storm | Hurricane Lala | 1 |
| 26 Jul 2026 | FM-5650 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Kawaihae Road Fire | 1 |
| 7 Apr 2026 | DR-4909 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | 3 |
| 23 Sep 2025 | FM-5613 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Holomua Fire | 1 |
| 19 Aug 2025 | FM-5609 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Kunia Road Fire | 1 |
| 17 Jun 2024 | DR-4793 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | 1 |
| 10 Aug 2023 | DR-4724 | Major disaster | Fire | Wildfires And High Winds | 2 |
| 9 Aug 2023 | FM-5478 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Mauna Kea Beach Fire | 1 |
| 9 Aug 2023 | FM-5477 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Pulehu Fire | 1 |
| 9 Aug 2023 | FM-5476 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Upcountry Fire | 1 |
| 9 Aug 2023 | FM-5475 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Lahaina Fire | 1 |
| 8 Aug 2023 | FM-5474 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Kohala Ranch Fire | 1 |
| 15 Feb 2022 | DR-4639 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | 2 |
Flood insurance claims by year
6,285 claims, 3,989 paid, $168M in total; 306 repetitive-loss and 41 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Hawaii with flood claims (55).
Year by year
Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1955
- 1996
- 1995
- 1994
- 1993
- 1992
- 1991
- 1990
- 1989
- 1988
- 1987
- 1986
- 1985
- 1984
- 1983
- 1982
- 1981
- 1980
- 1979
- 1978
- 1975
- 1974
- 1973
- 1971
- 1968
- 1967
- 1965
- 1963
- 1960
- 1959
- 1957
- 1955
Questions and answers
Which Hawaii counties have the most recorded tornadoes?
Honolulu (20), Hawaii (10) and Kauai (6), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.
Which Hawaii counties have the most flood insurance claims?
Honolulu (3,069), Kauai (1,495) and Maui (819) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hawaii had?
75 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 5 of them in 2026 so far.
How does Hawaii compare with the national rate?
94.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 4.4 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.
Provenance
NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.