Outreach workers are ramping up efforts to alert people experiencing homelessness ahead of a powerful storm approaching Hawai‘i.
There are currently 25 to 30 bed spaces within several shelters available on O‘ahu, said Partners in Care Executive Director Laura Thielen at a Tuesday news conference.
“We are very concerned with folks who are in low-lying areas,” Thielen said, urging those who know someone experiencing homelessness to get them to seek shelter.
Thielen said outreach workers started notifying people on the streets last week to get them into shelters before the storm, which is expected to last through Saturday, bringing possible flooding, windy conditions and thunderstorms.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told reporters on Tuesday that some areas could see rainfall up to 30 inches over the next five days.
In the past, many people experiencing homelessness have planned to ride out storms in encampments, which are sometimes in low-lying areas, under bridges or on the beach.
Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said that teams of the Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement program have been assisting nonprofit partners with more outreach. He said some people experiencing homelessness in past weather events didn’t seek help until the storm reached the island.
“We’re trying to avoid that,” Ireland said. “But if that is the case with this storm, we will continue to move people from harm’s way into existing shelter space or newly opened shelter as this evolves.”
An encampment in Waipahu was affected by a storm last month. Thielen said she went out two weeks ago to check on the encampment, and stood in mud that went up to her knees.
“Several of the tents had been swept away, and what was a few days earlier a trickling stream was a raging river," Thielen said. "So people were nervous, but they weren't willing to move.”
Thielen said people will hopefully take them up on their offer and seek shelter. Some available shelters are at the Institute for Human Services, Kealahou West O‘ahu and more.
