Wildfire survivors have an additional 30 days to apply for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Gov. Josh Green took steps to secure an extension to the deadline, now Nov. 9, when it became clear that residents needed more time.
"The sense on the part of the governor and his team was that this was a very traumatic event," said Adam Weintraub, communications director for the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency. "People process trauma in different ways, and it can make it a problem for folks to deal with bureaucratic details."
Generally, individuals have 60 days from the date of the official disaster declaration — Aug. 10 in this case — to file for assistance.
But that paperwork may not be top of mind when "you're focused on your own needs, your immediate needs, your family's needs," Weintraub said.
FEMA is still receiving first-time applications online and in person and has had challenges reaching people who have left Maui since the fires.
With the application window set to close next week, officials were worried that people might lose out on the opportunity to apply for critical aid.
"We're all grateful that FEMA agreed to the request for the extension," Weintraub said.
How an extension is granted
Fortunately, the process to push back the FEMA deadline for individual assistance is an uncommon instance of bureaucracy working quickly.
Todd Hoose with FEMA External Affairs said the whole process can be done in "minutes."
The governor simply has to get in touch with the right person at FEMA, who in this case is Regional Administrator Bob Fenton.
"It's a matter of someone mentioning to Bob that there's a need, Bob would confer with the governor, and it would happen," Hoose said.
Hoose has been with FEMA for seven years and responded to nearly 100 different disasters. He said that in the vast majority of those events, the governor requested an extension and FEMA granted it.
So why have this deadline at all? Hoose said that question often comes up internally at FEMA, but ultimately, he thinks the deadline serves a purpose: it motivates people to apply.
"How many times when you know that you need to go shopping, you wait until just before the grocery store closes and 'Go, gosh, darn it, I got to get there'", Hoose said. "It helps rise it to a level of urgency for the individuals to just make the phone call."
"Help us to understand how we can help you"
An extra 30 days isn’t going to help people if they don’t understand what resources are available. Maui County councilmembers have called on several disaster response organizations — including FEMA — to provide clearer information to the public.
"I'm just hoping that somebody is going to come up with a cheat sheet of all of this stuff," said Councilmember Tasha Kama of Kahului in a Wednesday council meeting, "so that we can actually put it on our social media and tell our constituents, this is what's available to you."
Hoose attended that meeting, making sure to take notes on the areas that testifiers and elected officials asked for improvement.
"I have seven pages of notes on things that we need to do and what we need to do better," Hoose said.
Hoose asked for patience from residents as FEMA officials get up to speed on things like place name pronunciation and refine their modes of communication. If something isn't working, Hoose said that FEMA officials need the public's help to understand why.
"My whole ask of the people of Hawaiʻi is to help us understand," Hoose said. "Ask good questions and help us to understand how we can help you."
Individuals seeking FEMA individual disaster assistance can apply online or by calling the disaster assistance hotline at 800-621-3362.
