HCC §7-2-1
No loitering during a tsunami warning
Read the official text at hawaiicounty.gov ↗This law makes it a crime to hang around or disobey police orders during a tsunami warning or right after a tsunami. It applies to public places like roads, sidewalks, and beaches, and also to private areas if police tell you to leave. People who are authorized to protect or save property are allowed to stay.
everyone
The ordinance, as written (Hawaiʻi County) — Loitering during tsunami warning
A copy, taken August 21, 2026. The version published by Hawaiʻi County is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
* A person commits the offense of loitering during an emergency if during a tsunami warning period, or during and immediately after a tsunami that person knowingly: (1) Loiters, loafs, or idles upon any public highway, public place, sidewalk, or beach, on foot or on any vehicle, in any coastal area, or area subject to tsunami action. (2) Disobeys any direction or command of any police officer directing traffic. (3) Refuses or fails to leave any area, public or private, upon order of a police officer, which action impedes or tends to impede the effective and orderly handling of an evacuation or a disaster; provided that this section shall not prevent any authorized person from lawfully preserving, protecting, or salvaging any property, real or personal, or to prevent any other authorized person from performing any other lawful duty. (2022, ord 22-103, sec 5.)7-2-1 * Editor’s Note: Section 7-9, was renumbered section 7-2-1 by Ordinance 22-103.
Published by the County of Hawaiʻi Office of the County Clerk.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.