The 911 emergency line was out of commission Monday morning on Hawaiʻi Island.
Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense’s Adam Weintraub joined The Conversation live with the latest on dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane-force winds and the flooding.
Interview highlights
On Hawaiʻi Island’s 911 system
ADAM WEINTRAUB: The 911 system this morning has been behaving badly. It is not a full-on failure because some people calling 911 are getting through, but we're finding that it's not a 100% connection. So, we're asking that if anybody does call 911 and they can't get through, it's still possible to contact the emergency services folks. You can text 911, and the message, in many cases, will go through. If you still are having trouble or if you're not on a phone that can text, we are referring people to the alternate numbers. Our non-emergency number is 808-961-8336, and there's also 808-935-3311.
On addressing immediate needs in communities
WEINTRAUB: You may have seen some announcements earlier today that at least for the time being, emergency access to Pāhala has been restored. That doesn't mean the highway is open. If we need to get supplies in, equipment in to do repair work, or if somebody has a medical need and needs to come out of that community, the roadway is available, but it is not for everybody to just go about their business. That's still an emergency access route only. We know that there are needs in the Pāhala community for fuel and to restart some of the components of the water system there. Those are being addressed today. The situation is a little more critical in Nāʻālehu, where some of the infrastructure that supports the water system was seriously damaged by the flooding that occurred in the storm. We are arranging to have water brought down in a tank truck to the Nāʻālehu community to meet those needs. And of course, we are still dealing with widespread power outages across the island. Hawaiian Electric is working on that, but they're addressing it on a prioritized basis where they're trying to stand up the transmission infrastructure first, and then they'll start trying to restore home use.
On bridge restoration in areas that are cut off
WEINTRAUB: It's in the hands of our DPW (Department of Public Works) teams and their contractor partners. They're bringing the same focus to bear on it that they did when we had the damage from the Kona low storms. And this is not new territory for them. The scale is a little unexpected compared to what previous disasters have brought in the last few years. But our DPW team does know their business, and they are moving equipment and supplies down there as we speak.
On recovery, request for assistance
WEINTRAUB: I do want to make it clear, there are going to be some aftereffects that we'll be dealing with for quite some time, but I can tell you from sitting in on some of the emergency management meetings that there is a clear sense that the support for Hawaiʻi goes all the way up to the federal government, and that there is a commitment to making this recovery as quick as it can be.
We do encourage anybody who's got a need, if that's immediate but not an emergency, to go to our website. They can fill out what's called a request for assistance, and that puts them on the radar of folks who can provide emergency shelter, who can provide emergency water. And the damage reporting process will be gearing up as we get through the week, so we encourage folks who did suffer property damage either to their home or to their business to go ahead and fill out a report on our website.
Hawaiʻi County residents can report damage impacted by Lala here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
