Lahaina recovery efforts ahead of schedule but massive challenges remain
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The government spared no expense in housing survivors, clearing debris, and restoring basic infrastructure. But those tasks may have been easy compared to the heavy lifting that remains ahead.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said she wanted the community to be reassured that FEMA will remain a big part of the ongoing recovery.
“We are opening up a long-term permanent office here on Maui. We’re getting ready to hire its director,” she told Hawaii News Now. “We’re going to hire members from the community to help us set up that office because we know that the recovery efforts here are going to take a long time.”
A recent survey of victims found widespread dissatisfaction with the FEMA sheltering program that used local hotels, leading to frequent dislocation. Criswell said the agency learned its programs designed for the continent often didn’t fit here.
WATCH: HNN’s special coverage of 1-year anniversary of Maui wildfires disaster
“And certainly this community has had unique challenges, time and distance and being isolated, the historic nature, the cultural considerations in this community are really affecting and informing how we’re moving forward,” Criswell said.
Thousands of transitional homes are still needed for the years it will take to replace the destroyed housing. Before rebuilding the historic business district, difficult political, financial, and logistical decisions must be made.
One of the first decisions was a commitment to restoring respect for Hawaiian culture in Lahaina. A corridor was built around the restored freshwater ponds of Mokuula.
The governor signed over state land at Mokuula to the county Thursday, on the fire’s anniversary. Still, there’s no money or timeline – because conflicting visions – even among Native Hawaiians, must be reconciled first.
MAUI WILDFIRES DISASTER: ONE YEAR LATER
When asked about the timeline and budget, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said there would be time to seek community input before a plan was developed.
“The water’s returned there. So that’s a, you know, that’s a good sign,” Bissen said. “But again, we have to find out what impacts that have if we reconfigure that area. So, we’re working on it.”
The governor said parts of the destroyed Kamehameha III campus could also become part of the cultural and memorial corridor.
Also crucial, restoring survivors’ financially remains a huge task.
The $4 billion global out-of-court settlement is a major step. The governor said the state’s $800 million commitment, which experts say goes far beyond the state’s liability exposure, avoided lengthy litigation between the victims, the county HECO, and Kamehameha Schools.
“If I didn’t open the doors to settlement for all these partners, HECO would have gone bankrupt. The county would have likely gone bankrupt, and we would have all paid much, much more,” Green said.
The lion’s share of the settlement comes from the state’s portion, $873 million from Kamehameha Schools and $1.99 billion from HECO. The governor said Maui County, which was also sued, would pay very little into the settlement but would need to spend hundreds of millions to restore its infrastructure.
Although $4 billion is a lot of money, experts say that it could get spread fairly thin with so many victims and such extensive damage. One attorney said HECO, which had the most liability, was too small a company to pay enough money to truly compensate the people of Maui for all the suffering they’ve endured.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
