Maui County, HI Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

060(G) of the Maui County Code sets a stricter elevation and construction standard for the coastal high hazard area, the zone designated V or VE on the flood insurance rate map because it faces high-velocity wave action from storms. New construction and substantial improvements there must be elevated on adequately anchored pilings or columns so the lowest horizontal structural member of the lowest floor, excluding the pilings themselves, sits at least one foot above the base flood level, and the pile or column foundation must be engineered to resist flotation, collapse and lateral movement from the simultaneous action of wind and water loads, using wind values required by the International Building Code and International Residential Code as amended locally.

The space below the elevated lowest floor must stay free of obstructions or be built with breakaway walls, open lattice, or insect screening designed to give way under storm loads without damaging the elevated structure above; that space cannot be used for human habitation, only parking, building access or storage, and elevator lift equipment, furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, water heaters and electrical junction boxes are barred from it outright. Breakaway walls must have a design loading resistance of no less than ten and no more than twenty pounds per square foot.

New construction must also sit landward of the reach of mean high tide, and fill cannot be used for structural support. An engineer or architect must certify compliance, and an engineer or surveyor must certify the finished elevation on FEMA's elevation certificate; both certifications go to the director of public works.