Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) - Official Hawaii State Agency That Plans For And Responds To Both Natural And Human-Caused Emergencies.
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Location / Contact:Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA)
4204 Diamond Head Road
Honolulu, HI 96816
Phone: 808) 733-4300
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Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency
The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) plans for and responds to both natural and human-caused emergencies. These include emergencies resulting from all hazards, from tsunamis, wildfires, and hurricanes to incidents involving hazardous materials or nuclear power. The agency prepares and implements a statewide Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and routinely conducts extensive exercises to test state and county emergency response capabilities.
HIEMA is the coordinating agency on emergencies of all kinds between federal and local agencies, including the four county emergency management agencies -- Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense, Maui Emergency Management Agency, City and County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, and Kauaʻi Emergency Management Agency -- and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
After an incident, HIEMA conducts damage assessment surveys and advises the Governor on whether to declare an emergency and seek federal relief funds. The agency maintains a primary Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Diamond Head Crater, Honolulu. HIEMA also operates State Warning Point, a state emergency communications center staffed 24 hours, 7 days a week. The center maintains statewide communications with county emergency officials and other partners.
Our Mission, Vision, and Core Values
Mission: To help the Hawaiʻi ʻohana prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from disaster.
Vision: To create a ready and resilient Hawaiʻi.
Core Values: HIEMA's five core values of Mālama, Poʻokela, Wiwoʻole, Laulima, and Kūpono support its vision and mission of a ready and resilient Hawaiʻi. HIEMA continuously strives to enhance, build, and sustain a culture of preparedness through leveraging collaborative partnerships and shared responsibility to prepare, protect, respond, recover, and mitigate the impacts of all hazards and threats.
- Mālama: To care for and protect.
- Poʻokela: Striving to undertake every action with excellence and ensuring continuous improvement.
- Wiwoʻole: Serving the people of Hawaii with courage and fearlessness.
- Laulima: To cooperate and work successfully with others.
- Kūpono: To be honest, fair transparent and open.
Get Alerts
Emergency Alerts -- Social Media -- Radio
Local emergency alerts are issued by each of Hawaiʻi's four counties. You can get free text message or email notifications with the latest updates on natural disasters and civic emergencies.
County emergency management agencies and the state's Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency also maintain social media accounts where updates are posted. Sign up for county emergency alerts and follow government social media pages below. Honolulu - https://www.honolulu.gov/dem/hnl-alert/> All Islands: https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/get-ready/>
Get Ready: Overview
2-Weeks Ready in Hawaiʻi
Here in Hawaiʻi, most of the food and supplies we rely on are shipped in from overseas. If a disaster like a hurricane or tsunami damages ports or takes out power, that could mean weeks of supply chain disruption. That's why it's important to have two weeks of supplies. Click here to learn about stocking your home and being self-sufficient.https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/get-ready-overview/
Make a Family Plan
Do you know the hazards where you live? Are your family members ready to use tools to keep them safe? In this section, we'll show you how to get everyone in your home ready to act in an emergency.
Pack a Go Bag
A Go Bag is a bag packed with essential emergency supplies. We should all have Go Bags packed and ready so that we can evacuate our homes quickly. Natural disasters such as wildfires and flash floods can happen quickly and without notice, so it's important to have your Go Bag ready.
Protect Your Home
There are steps you can take to make your home more resistant to natural disasters, from hurricane clips to fire-resistant siding. Click here to see how to maintain your yard and improve your home to be more resilient.
Prepare Your Business
Your business's emergency plan is an important part of protecting your employees, equipment and vital records. Click here to get started.
Boating Safety
When you're on the water, it's vital that you are able to weather any storm. Click here to access the Hawaiʻi Boater's Hurricane and Tsunami Safety Manual, which gives you the information you need on emergency supplies and procedures at sea. https://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-BoatersManual-FINAL.pdf>
Natural Disasters
Wildfire
Preventing Wildfires
Almost 99% of wildfires in Hawaiʻi are caused by humans, according to research by the Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization.
That means that wildfires are preventable. Follow the tips below to help reduce wildfires, save lives and protect property.
Hurricane
What is a Hurricane?
Hurricanes are huge cyclones of rotating clouds and thunderstorms that form over the ocean and draw strength from warm tropical water. These spinning clouds have a low-pressure center (or "eye") that attracts high-pressure winds which form a strong eyewall.
Hurricanes grow by pulling up warm tropical air and moisture from the ocean into its cloud system, where this moisture cools and condenses, forming intense rain bands and thunderstorms. These storm systems can be hundreds of miles wide and last for days.
When a tropical storm gains enough momentum to sustain winds over 74 miles per hour, it's called a hurricane. Hurricanes have five categories based on wind speed. Category 1 begins at 74 mph, and Category 5, the most dangerous, has sustained winds of 157 mph and stronger.
Tsunami
What is a Tsunami?
A tsunami is a series of powerful waves usually caused by large earthquakes that displace the seafloor. These waves can travel thousands of miles across the ocean, at speeds over 500 miles per hour. Tsunamis are some of the most destructive and dangerous natural disasters. One of the deadliest natural disasters in recent history was the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which killed 227,000 people in Southeast Asia and Africa, and was caused by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia.
When tsunami waves approach shores, where water is shallower than the open ocean, the traveling waves slow down and build in height. Most tsunami waves are less than 10 feet high, but extreme tsunamis have produced waves over 100 feet high. <!1S><p hidden>https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/tsunami/><!1E>
Earthquake
- An earthquake is the sudden, sometimes violent movement of the earth's surface from the release of energy in the earth's crust.
- Approximately 75% of the world's seismic energy is released along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, where the thinner Pacific plate is forced beneath thicker continental crust. This 40,000 kilometer band of seismicity also known as the "Ring of Fire," stretches up the west coasts of South and Central America and from the North American continent to the Aleutians, Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia.
- Active volcanoes in Hawaiʻi cause numerous earthquakes per day, most of which are too small to be registered by anything other than sensitive scientific equipment.
Volcanic Hazards
Active Volcanoes in Hawaiʻi
The Island of Hawaiʻi is home to active volcanoes that have had recent effects on residents in both local vicinities and statewide. Volcanic hazards include lava flows that are destructive to property and people in its path, some large eruptive debris that can be fatal or injurious to onlookers (though rare), and widespread volcanic gases and ash that can be harmful to human health.
On Hawaiʻi Island, Kīlauea is currently erupting and Mauna Loa recently erupted in 2022. Hualālai most recently erupted in 1801. 22 miles off the southeast coast of Hawaiʻi Island, Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly named Lōʻihi) is an active submarine volcano more than 3,000 feet below sea level, which most recently erupted in 1996.
On Maui, Haleakalā is an active volcano that most recently erupted between 400 and 600 years ago. https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/natural-disasters-2/volcanic-hazards/>
Flash Flooding
Flash Flooding in Hawaiʻi
Flash flooding is a dangerous natural disaster that is common in Hawaiʻi. Flash floods have killed 19 people in Hawaiʻi in the last 23 years, destroyed hundreds of homes and caused property damage upwards of $250 million.
Flash floods are powerful rushes of water through streams, valleys and streets, usually caused by heavy or excessive rainfall during rainstorms, tropical storms and hurricanes. As this water travels and gathers volume, it can carry dangerous debris like rocks, mud, branches and trees.
Flash floods can also be caused by dam failures, though this is rare. The Ka Loko Dam failure on the north shore of Kauaʻi in 2006 killed seven people. https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/flood/>
Get Involved / Support
Volunteer / Drop Off Donations
See storm recovery needs on the Mālama Map.
Donate to Kona Storm Relief
Make a monetary donation to local relief efforts.
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
A Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a trained group of citizens from a community or neighborhood that prepares for and responds to natural disasters and emergencies.
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