Dozens of local producers across the state have reported more than $3 million in losses from Hurricane Lala.
Local agriculture groups first created the Hawai'i Agriculture Disaster Response dashboard to document farmers’ losses after the Kona low storms. A new page on the dashboard is being dedicated to Lala, which shows that nearly 70 farmers and ranchers have lost more than $3.2 million over 320 acres of land.
That’s going to grow, according to Hunter Heaivilin, the advocacy director for the Hawaiʻi Farmers Union.
“There was a similar lag after the Kona lows because producers that are most severely impacted may not have power, may not have cell service — and may not have those for some time,” he said.
The union, along with the Agriculture Stewardship Hawaii, Synergistic Hawai'i Agriculture Council, Hawai'i Cattlemen's Council and Hawai'i Farm Bureau, partnered to create the dashboard.
“It's kind of expected that the dashboard doesn't currently fully reflect what I understand — from talking with producers across the islands and talking with folks across the various counties — about what they're seeing and what they've experienced,” Heaivilin said.
As of Monday morning, nearly $2 million of the damage sustained in the islands from Lala took place on Hawaiʻi Island, the southern portion of which took the brunt of the hurricane’s damage.
About $1.1 million in damage has been reported so far on Maui island.
Most of what farmers lost was to infrastructure and machinery, which account for two-thirds of the reported losses. About $840,000 in crops were lost.
The Kona low storms, according to the same dashboard, resulted in $38.8 million in damage to local farmers. Oʻahu farmers lost $25.4 million — the most of any island — and most of the losses were to crops.
Local agriculture leaders are reminding producers to report their losses when they’re able, as the data can help them get assistance.
“When you fill it out, it actually filters and then displays which federal programs or, should they exist, state programs you might be eligible for based off the type of hazard and the type of impacts that you've had,” Heaivilin said. “It's designed to … immediately provide some value to producers.”
He also said the information is provided to state and federal entities that may also provide assistance, so it can become an “on-ramp” to other aid.
Damages can still be reported online at the dashboard.
