Kawela, Hawaii
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the East Molokai census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96748. It lies in Kawela Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Kaunakakai OE S quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1952 USGS Kaunakakai quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Maui quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Maui quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Kaunakakai quadrangle1:24000
- 1974 USGS Maui quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Molokai East quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
- 1993 USGS Kaunakakai quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
21 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 21 fires within 5 miles of Kawela between 1998 and 2012, burning about 20,918 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Maui | not named |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Maui | not named |
| 30 August 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 643 acres | State of Hawaii | not named |
| 29 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,800 acres | State of Hawaii | not named |
| 23 August 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,453 acres | State of Hawaii | not named |
| 22 August 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Maui | not named |
| 18 August 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Maui | not named |
| 16 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Maui | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Kawela: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaunakakai Pits | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Khmalo Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Mayer Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kawela in 5 storm reports between 2007 and 2021: 4 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 | Flash Flood | Kawela | - | Peak of flood wave occurred at Kawela Gulch on the island of Molokai. |
| April 2018 | Flash Flood | Kawela | - | Law enforcement reported water over Kamehameha V Highway on Molokai near Mile Post 4, west-southwest of Kawela. |
| January 2011 | Flash Flood | Kawela | - | Heavy rain caused a debris flow that closed Kamehameha V Highway for a time near Kawela on the island of Molokai. |
| November 2007 | Flash Flood | Kawela | - | Heavy rain caused flash flooding conditions in the southern part of Molokai. Kamehameha V Highway near Kawela was closed for a time by water and two feet of mud that had overflowed the roadway from the nearby Kawela Gulch. |
| September 2018 | Heavy Rain | Kawela | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamiloloa | 2.7 miles | 9 | |
| Kapaʻakea Colony (historical) | 3.3 miles | 7 | |
| Kōheo | 3.5 miles | 7 | |
| Kaunakakai | 3.8 miles | 7 | |
| Ranch Camp (historical) | 4.0 miles | 7 | |
| Manila Camp (historical) | 4.2 miles | 7 | |
| Kamalō | 4.3 miles | 8 | |
| Nawaa (historical) | 4.8 miles | 8 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 362408. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






