Disaster Data / States / Hawaii / Hawaii County
CountyHawaii County recorded 12 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 6 emergency declarations and 11 fire management declarations, 29 in all. Its most common hazard is fire.
Highlighted: Hawaii County, HI
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Hawaii County runs between 2000 and 2026, covering 29 declarations in complete fiscal years, plus 1 so far in FY2027. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Lala in 2026. The hazards behind these declarations were most often fire, hurricane, and severe storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $159.6 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for roads and bridges.
Past 12 months
Hawaii County has been named in 6 federal declarations in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Hawaii County to date and grow as recovery continues. The one made since Oct 1, 2026 is from FY2027, so it is added to the complete-year totals above after that year ends on Sep 30, 2027.
| Declaration | Declared | Households approved | Individual Assistance | Public Assistance obligated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4951-HIMajor disaster · Hurricane | Oct 7, 2026Incident period Aug 14 to 16, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
| EM-3654-HIEmergency · Tropical Storm | Sep 25, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
| DR-4936-HIMajor disaster · Earthquake | Sep 1, 2026Incident period May 22, 2026 | 284of 439 registered | $2.6M | None reported yet |
| EM-3652-HIEmergency · Tropical Storm | Aug 25, 2026Incident period Aug 14 to 16, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
| FM-5650-HIFire management · Fire | Jul 26, 2026 | Not applicable | Not applicable | None reported yet |
| DR-4909-HIMajor disaster · Flood | Apr 7, 2026Incident period Mar 10 to 24, 2026 | 634of 976 registered | $5.9M | $5.2M |
DR-4909-HI has approved 634 households for assistance so far, the 3rd most of any Hawaii County disaster in FEMA's household assistance data, which begins in 2002. The most was DR-1664-HI in 2006, with 2,635. COVID-19 funeral assistance is left out of this comparison. Hawaii County's 634 households are 24% of the 2,668 approved across Hawaii under DR-4909-HI.
Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 63.6% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$160M has been obligated to Hawaii County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$147M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $15K followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $12M, or 8% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Roads and bridges(C) | 100 | $80,355,773 |
| Utilities(F) | 64 | $35,676,488 |
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 138 | $29,487,194 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 27 | $5,461,208 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 7 | $3,535,393 |
| Debris removal(A) | 20 | $2,216,678 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 73 | $1,631,372 |
| Management costs(Z) | 12 | $1,190,403 |
| All categories | 441 | $159,554,509 |
For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 8-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 197 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.
FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.
| Assistance type | Approved amount |
|---|---|
| Repair and replacement | $21,295,545 |
| Rental assistance | $5,034,138 |
| Other needs | $4,923,169 |
Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP) | 35 | $19,786,105 |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM) | 8 | $1,553,014 |
Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.
Archive coverage for Hawaii: Current Governor emergency proclamations plus partial 2014-2022 State Procurement mirror; verified joining coverage is narrower; plus 3 weather declarations from FMCSA's archive of state emergency declarations (2017-present)
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
The totals above count complete fiscal years only. This list also includes one declaration made since Oct 1, 2026 (FY2027); it is added to the totals after that year ends on Sep 30, 2027.
Showing 30 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2026 | DR-4951-HI | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Lala |
| Sep 25, 2026 | EM-3654-HI | EM | Tropical Storm | Tropical Storm Nolo |
| Sep 1, 2026 | DR-4936-HI | DR | Earthquake | Earthquake |
| Aug 25, 2026 | EM-3652-HI | EM | Tropical Storm | Hurricane Lala |
| Jul 26, 2026 | FM-5650-HI | FM | Fire | Kawaihae Road Fire |
| Apr 7, 2026 | DR-4909-HI | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| Aug 10, 2023 | DR-4724-HI | DR | Fire | Wildfires And High Winds |
| Aug 9, 2023 | FM-5478-HI | FM | Fire | Mauna Kea Beach Fire |
| Aug 8, 2023 | FM-5474-HI | FM | Fire | Kohala Ranch Fire |
| Aug 1, 2021 | FM-5404-HI | FM | Fire | Mana Road Fire |
| Jul 25, 2020 | EM-3529-HI | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Douglas |
| Apr 1, 2020 | DR-4510-HI | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3431-HI | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Sep 27, 2018 | DR-4395-HI | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Lane |
| Sep 12, 2018 | EM-3404-HI | EM | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Olivia |
| Aug 22, 2018 | EM-3399-HI | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Lane |
| May 11, 2018 | DR-4366-HI | DR | Volcanic Eruption | Kilauea Volcanic Eruption And Earthquakes |
| Nov 3, 2014 | DR-4201-HI | DR | Volcanic Eruption | Pu'U O'O Volcanic Eruption And Lava Flow |
| Sep 12, 2014 | DR-4194-HI | DR | Severe Storm | Tropical Storm Iselle |
| Apr 8, 2011 | DR-1967-HI | DR | Tsunami | Tsunami Waves |
| Feb 6, 2008 | DR-1743-HI | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, High Surf, Flooding, And Mudslides |
| Oct 28, 2007 | FM-2740-HI | FM | Fire | Puako Fire |
| Aug 17, 2007 | FM-2722-HI | FM | Fire | Kohala Mountain Road Fire |
| Oct 17, 2006 | DR-1664-HI | DR | Earthquake | Earthquake |
| Aug 4, 2005 | FM-2574-HI | FM | Fire | Akoni Pule Highway Fire |
| Aug 2, 2005 | FM-2573-HI | FM | Fire | Lalamilo Fire |
| Sep 14, 2004 | FM-2556-HI | FM | Fire | Kawaihae Road Fire Hawaii |
| May 18, 2003 | FM-2468-HI | FM | Fire | Hi - Waikoloa Village Fire - 05/18/2003 |
| Nov 9, 2000 | DR-1348-HI | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Mar 20, 2000 | FM-2293-HI | FM | Fire | Hawaii County Fire Complex |
Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Hawaii's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.
Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.