It's been three months since wildfires tore through Lāhainā and Kula on Maui.
The deadline for impacted homeowners and renters to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was originally Thursday, but it has now been extended to Dec. 9.
The Conversation spoke with FEMA Region 9 Administrator Bob Fenton about how much has been spent on assistance and what the timeline looks like for recovery.
Fenton said FEMA has provided $1.3 billion in assistance so far. Most of it has been focused on debris removal, temporary housing, a temporary elementary school for King Kamehameha III students, and more.
"I think, you know, that just in FEMA easily, we'll probably spend over $2 billion. And then there will be other federal agencies that spend hundreds of millions of dollars more," Fenton said.
As for a recovery timeline, he said the sheer number of houses and businesses destroyed will require a significant surge in resources.
The first step is debris removal, but that requires homeowners to sign a right-of-entry form to allow FEMA on their property. Signing a right-of-entry form does not transfer ownership of the property.
"I'll give you an example of just debris removal, which is six months to a year. If everyone gets the rights-of-entry in very quickly, then it speeds up and we're closer to the six-month period. But right now, while we have maybe 21 or 22 rights-of-entry for the 26 properties up in Upcountry, we have less than 10% of the rights-of-entry for Lāhainā," he said.
Fenton also said that if FEMA contacts you with an available rental property, you should take action quickly because there is a limited housing supply.
He stressed that FEMA workers come from all over the country. Some have worked in the military or as first responders.
"These are people that are also, you know, away from their homes, but they're here because they have one thing in common. They really want to help those that have been affected by this fire."
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 8, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
