Hawaii’s coral reefs are covered by insurance. Hurricane Lala triggered a payout.

News admin August 22, 2026 0 Comments

Hawaii’s coral reefs are covered by insurance. Hurricane Lala triggered a payout.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – You can buy insurance for your car and your home. But Hawaii’s coral reefs have been insured against damage from hurricanes and tropical storms since 2022.

For the first time, a hurricane has triggered a payout from that insurance policy.

The Nature Conservancy — a global nonprofit — purchased the $2 million policy four years ago with support from philanthropists for an undisclosed price.

It was the first coral reef insurance policy in the U.S.

“So we actually worked with an insurance broker to develop a policy and put the policy out to bid to different companies. And then different companies essentially make an offer on that policy,” said Julia Rose, TNC’s coral restoration program manager in Hawaii and Palmyra.

Rose said the policy has very specific parameters for a rapid payout. The damage has to come from a tropical cyclone with winds of at least 50 knots. The distance of the storm also triggers different payout amounts.

Hurricane Lala’s 80 mile per hour winds and the near-hit on Hawaii island qualified.

“This storm triggered a payout of $200,000. That’s actually the minimum payout,” said Rose.

The money comes less than a week after Lala, before damage assessments come in.

“You don’t have to prove damage. It’s based on a parameter being met,” said Rose. “So we agreed beforehand if this parameter is reached, we know that damage happened. It equates to this amount of a payoff.”

“Here, the storm surge is not just breakage of the reef, it’s also mixing with all the land-based influences that have been running back onto the reef, which is a big concern that we have in the main Hawaiian Islands,” said Nyssa Silbiger of the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The money will pay for things like removing debris and reattaching broken corals. Rose and her team have already been doing quick assessments of reef off the Kona coast along a 19-mile stretch from Kealakekua to the old Kona Airport.

“Unfortunately we are finding some substantial damage and it’s not consistent,” said Rose. “It’s in sort of hot spots and areas that were really exposed to that south swell that came with this storm.”

It’s looking like a wise investment in what’s turning out to be an active hurricane season.

“So we if get more multiple storms for the season, as we might expect this year, we have the potential for multiple payouts up to $2 million,” said Rose.

The Nature Conservancy said the money’s use will be determined with the Hawaii Emergency Reef Restoration Network, a coalition of government agencies, scientists, nonprofits and community groups.