The storms: Iniki, Iwa, and what comes next​

Hurricane Iniki struck Kauai as a Category 4 storm in September 1992 — $1.8 billion in damage in 1992 dollars (over $4 billion today), six lives lost, and thousands of homes destroyed. Hurricane Iwa hit in 1982. The homes that survived Iniki had one thing in common: they were tied together well enough to stay together.​
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Three decades later, ocean temperatures around the Hawaiian Islands have risen, particularly on the north side — historically the safer flank. Two hurricanes approached Hawaii from that direction in 2014 and 2015. The 2023 Maui fires that killed more than 100 people were driven in significant part by the wind field of a hurricane passing offshore. Storms don't have to make landfall to do catastrophic damage.​
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NOAA has forecast unusually active central Pacific hurricane seasons in several recent years. The frequency, intensity, and approach geometry of these storms are all shifting in directions that make Hawaii homes more vulnerable — not less.​

The Hawaii hurricane insurance market​

Hawaii hurricane insurance premiums have roughly doubled in the past few years. Some carriers have stopped writing new policies. Some have non-renewed existing customers. Condo associations have been hit particularly hard, with several large buildings unable to obtain full hurricane coverage at any price.​

Homeowners with a mortgage have no choice — hurricane and windstorm coverage is required by lenders. The premium increase has to be absorbed somewhere. Homeowners without a mortgage are increasingly doing the math and dropping coverage entirely. That gamble looks reasonable until it isn't. Replacement cost on a typical Oahu single-family home is well into seven figures, and that's an asset most families don't recover from losing.​

Hurricane retrofitting changes the equation​

Retrofitting your home with hurricane clips and connectors doesn't eliminate either threat, but it reduces both significantly. A properly retrofitted Hawaii home is far more likely to survive a major storm intact. And nearly every hurricane insurer in Hawaii — including First Insurance Company of Hawaii (FICOH), Island Insurance, Hawaiian Hurricane Group, DB Insurance, and Allstate — offers real premium discounts (often called "premium credits" or "wind mitigation discounts") for documented hurricane retrofits.​​

These discounts often pay back the cost of the retrofit within just a few years. After that, it's permanent savings — plus a meaningfully lower probability of catastrophic loss in the first place.​

What used to be a precaution is now, for most Hawaii homeowners, the most rational financial move available.​

See what a hurricane retrofit involves

Hurricane insurance discounts

​Hurricanes to Grow More Destructive As Ocean Warms….