Molokaʻi resident Kauʻi Reyes has lived in her Kapaʻakea home for over 50 years. But nothing prepared her for the flooding during the Kona low storms. About 3 feet of mud and water engulfed her home and others in the area.
“It went to almost to the top of my stairs. That's how that's how bad it was,” she said.
While the floodwaters did not make it inside her house, it destroyed a lower studio room.
“It just trashed everything downstairs. We had to dump everything,” Reyes said. “I was going through hell, let me tell you.”
In addition to the flooding, her roof leaked. Weeks later, mold had started showing through.
“Mold's a dangerous thing. And it just grows, unless you actively do something about it,” said Tyler Dahlgren, a Maui resident and a lead with Red Lightning, an organization that’s been helping residents with storm recovery on Maui and Molokaʻi.
“It's really been a volunteer organization, and really maximizing a community effort to make the biggest impact we can and as quickly as we can, because with mold, it really is a story about time,” Dahlgren said.
He's seen how destructive mold can be, often growing behind walls long after floodwaters have dried.
“There's a growing issue out there for homes that haven't gotten ahead of it yet, or thought, you know, 'This wasn't that big a deal. It was only an inch [of water] in my house,' or 'It only leaked a little in the roof.’ The mold, it gets in and then it just keeps going, right?” he explained.
At Reyes' house, volunteers demolished the moldy ceiling, drywall and damaged flooring, clearing the way for cleanup.
Red Lightning volunteer Dylan Brooks wore a mask as he worked, with fans in the background for air circulation.
“So right now, we're going through and taking out all of the old drywall screws and debris so that we can prep it for the next round of drywall and make sure that all of the mold and all the contamination is all the way cleared out,” he explained, drill in hand.
They used a specialized vacuum with High-Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, capabilities, to remove mold spores, and sprayed a mold retardant to halt its growth. They also repaired the roof leaks.
“We just want to make sure we mitigate all of the health risks,” said Brooks, who went to Maui to visit his brother and has stayed on to help with the continued recovery mission. “We take out as much of the black mold as we possibly can.”
On Maui, the team focused initially on clearing mud, and expanded to mold remediation. On Molokaʻi, Dahlgren said the work has been a bit more varied.
“Over here, it's been everything from roof repairs to downed trees to helping rebuild culverts and driveways to mold remediation,” he explained. “It's really been just talking to kūpuna and talking to different families and figuring out what their most immediate need is, and just trying to be there to support.”
Dahlgren said Red Lightning is here to help fill in the gaps, prioritizing those who don't otherwise have recovery assistance.
“There's so many families that they'll band together and can take care of themselves. And that's awesome. That's what we do as a community, right?” he said. “But it doesn't have to be that. There's people who are willing to stand up and help, and that's what we're trying to mobilize, is those volunteers who raise their hands and want to get involved. So we're helping to facilitate that, and then make sure that nobody has to carry this burden all on their own.”
In the wake of the 2023 Lahaina fire, Red Lightning helped supply Starlink units for satellite internet connection, and assisted with smoke remediation and cleanup. After the Kona low flooding, they again answered the disaster recovery call.
“Our team house is right in the middle of all the flooding in South Kīhei, so we were well positioned to just start digging, literally in our own driveway, to get out to help everybody else, and then started digging around the neighbors to get all the mud and muck out,” Dahlgren said.
Volunteers are homegrown as well as from all over the country — and even have international support.
Red Lightning has been joined by Taskforce Kiwi.
“Taskforce Kiwi is a veteran-led disaster response and recovery group,” team leader Jenny Calder said. “We come in and help those impacted. So we're all volunteers from New Zealand, and we've worked with Red Lightning previously in the Lahaina fire recovery, where we carried out smoke remediation.”
Taskforce Kiwi has 800 trained volunteers across New Zealand ready to activate, and they’ve helped in other disaster areas across the Pacific. Now, they’ve been doing two-week deployment rotations on Maui and Molokaʻi to assist with flood recovery.
“We go and we assess the needs, so we'll assemble a team with the skills to go and help that recovery. So in New Zealand, we've responded to disasters following floods and storms, wind damage, going out and helping the community get back on their feet. We also help veterans in need,” explained Calder, whose full-time job is in emergency management. “We recognize that people who volunteer, they also have jobs, family, things going on, but we just give the time we can.”
So far, Red Lightning has assisted nearly 40 households on Maui, and close to 50 on Molokaʻi.
Reyes cooked dinner for the whole team at her house to say thank you for their work.
“It's such a blessing, I must say. The Lord works in mysterious ways. And my goodness, on my behalf and my family, I am really thankful for them to come and share, you know, give us a little hope,” Reyes laughed.
Hawaiʻi Public Radio exists to serve all of Hawai’i, and it’s the people of Hawai’i who keep us independent and strong. Donate today. Mahalo for your support.
