Kauai towns draft disaster recovery plans as isolation risks grow
Anahola residents mapped evacuation routes, shelters and food hubs as Kauai towns plan for isolation when roads wash out.
Community visioning in 2024 and 2025, led by Āina Alliance with the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, identified evacuation routes, firebreaks, emergency shelters and food distribution hubs for the largest Native Hawaiian homestead on the island.
That local planning now fits inside a county framework adopted in September 2025 as Resolution 2025-36. Kauai County and Hawaii Sea Grant spent two years developing the pre-disaster recovery framework, meant to help communities prepare more effectively and support recovery after a disaster. Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami said recovery begins long before an emergency, with relationships, planning and trust built before disaster strikes.
The island has endured tropical cyclones, wildfires, flooding, high surf and wave events, and county officials say climate change is increasing the risk. Severe weather and flooding in April 2024 triggered a federal disaster declaration for Kauai.
Kauai Emergency Management Agency's mission is to protect lives and property by coordinating mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery across government and the private sector. The agency has also posted a 2026 update to its Multi-Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Plan, which identifies major hazards, assesses risk and vulnerability, and recommends steps to reduce those risks.
Residents discussed scenarios in which damaged bridges, landslides or flooded roads could leave their area cut off, then mapped where people could move, gather supplies and shelter.
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