Recovery efforts are underway for the parts of the state that were most impacted by the ongoing Kona low storm, like the North Shore of Oʻahu and Maui County.
Gov. Josh Green has formally requested a presidential major disaster declaration so that the federal government will be able to cost-share with the state and county on recovery efforts.
It’s not yet clear when that determination will be made. However, the declaration could mean that the federal government would reimburse the state for either 75% or 95% of recovery costs.
Green expects that the state will have its first damage assessment to understand the full impacts of the storms within the next three days. His previous estimates put the total cost at over $1 billion.
Green explained the Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with the state and city to record and survey the damage, including Kula hospital on Maui, which will need to be rebuilt.
“They're fanning out across each of the counties to see how many houses were damaged. They'll be adding, of course, those numbers to our road damages, our school damages. Those numbers add up very quickly,” he said.
“You can imagine just simply replacing a hospital is gonna be hundreds of millions of dollars. The ask that I had to the federal administration, and specifically to the Homeland Security director, was: do what you can to help us as soon as possible.”
Further complicating matters is that Congress has been unable to come to an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which houses FEMA.
“I will be humbly leaning towards some support from the state to float monies in advance, which will be reimbursed,” Green said.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has also asked the City Council to adjust its budget by adding $5 million to accommodate recovery efforts.
“We're going to look at everything, so we'll be stretched too,” he said.
“I know how daunting it is for people who have been directly affected, while in the spirit of the city and state, trying to do everything we can with the manpower we have. And believe me, there's a lot of resources there, but we know we're gonna take it to the limits.”
The city is also activating its tax remission program that will give impacted homeowners a break on some of their property taxes for the year. The city’s Budget and Fiscal Services Department will be sending out more information about that in the coming days.
The city has also activated its debris management contract, which includes private company haulers. Although the city has retained this contract for a long time, this is the first time it has had to activate it.
Department of Environmental Services Director Roger Babcock explained the city is working with limited landfill space, but that the debris is being sorted into what can be recycled, composted, and burned at H-Power, the waste-to-power incinerator.
“We want to divert as much material as we can from the landfill,” Babcock said. “That is what this company specializes in. So they'll be setting up what are called temporary debris storage and reduction sites.”
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