Wailua, Hawaii
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Wailua-Anahola census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96746. It stands on Wailua River. The Survey maps it on the Kapaa quadrangle. 2,359 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 20 feet above sea level.
On record in Wailua
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Wailua Complex of HeiausNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966
Population over time
3 figuresWailua grew from 2,083 to 2,359 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,083 | |
| 2010 | 2,254 | +171 (+8%) |
| 2020 | 2,359 | +105 (+5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 10 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.
- 1954 USGS Kauai quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Kapaa quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1967 USGS Kauai quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Kauai quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Kapaa quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Kapaa quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Kapaa quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
254 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 254 fires within 5 miles of Wailua between 2001 and 2016, burning about 1,346 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 | 252 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
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 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 5 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 5 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 30 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 30 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 3 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 28 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
| 27 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | County of Kaua'i | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Wailua: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Aluminum, Iron, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Titanium, Water, Free, Silica. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Central Kauai Deposit | Aluminum, Iron, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Titanium, Water, Free, Silica | Prospect | 1949 |
Storms near this place
14 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wailua in 14 storm reports between 2002 and 2024: 7 heavy rain, 6 flash flood, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 death. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2016 | Flash Flood | Wailua | 1 killed | Flash flooding at a stream near the Wailua River on Kauai swept a woman away to her death, though others in the kayak and hiking tour group managed to get to safety. |
| April 2024 | Flash Flood | Wailua | $7,000,000 | Emergency managers reported flash flooding along with multiple evacuations in the Wailua area. Additionally a large crane at the Wailua River was leaning on a power line and blocking a road. Several roads were impassable due to flooding. Wailua Bridge southbound lane was closed due to flash flooding. |
| March 2016 | Flash Flood | Wailua | - | An overflowing Wailua River along Kuamoo Road in Wailua forced tourists to evacuate their vehicle due to water covering the roadway. |
| March 2012 | Flash Flood | Wailua | - | Water from heavy rain closed Kuhio Highway in the vicinity of the Wailua Golf Course on Kauai. |
| December 2010 | Flash Flood | Wailua | - | A canoe club became flooded in the lower Wailua River area as heavy rains fell across eastern parts of Kauai. |
| April 2006 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | Showers and isolated thunderstorms impacted the southern half of the Garden Isle of Kauai. The precipitation caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding. No significant property damage or injuries were reported. |
| May 2020 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| September 2018 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| September 2017 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| November 2015 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Flash Flood | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Heavy Rain | Wailua | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Lightning | Wailua | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Papaloa | 0.5 miles | 10 | |
| Wailua House Lots | 0.7 miles | 10 | |
| Waipouli | 1.0 miles | 10 | |
| Olohena | 2.0 miles | 10 | |
| Wailua Homesteads | 2.3 miles | 10 | |
| Kapaʻa | 2.9 miles | 10 | |
| Kapahi | 3.5 miles | 10 | |
| Kawaihau | 3.6 miles | 10 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Wailua | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2106997 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 364739. 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.






