Green: Residents wont be displaced as tourism returns | News, Sports, Jobs

July 20, 2024

Gov. Josh Green discusses Maui wildfire recovery efforts during a news conference in Honolulu on Thursday morning. Screenshot of ‘Olelo / Office of the Governor Facebook

Maui residents who lost their homes in the Aug. 8 wildfires “are not going to be displaced from hotels into a homeless state,” Gov. Josh Green said Thursday.

“We’re not pushing people out, and if anyone does get displaced or it’s suggested they’re going to get displaced – the Red Cross or our office or others will intervene directly to make sure they have a roof over their head,” Green said during a news conference Thursday to address recovery efforts and worries over housing with tourism set to return next month.

Nearly 8,000 people are staying at 40 hotels across Maui under the Red Cross’ noncongregate sheltering program. Sept. 29 marks the end of the “safe harbor” period, during which eligibility requirements for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance do not apply. By that date, the Red Cross will gather eligibility data on survivors to help them determine the next steps, according to Maui County.

Green said during the news conference in Honolulu that “I don’t want people to be confused. We still will continue to care for them” even after the safe harbor period ends.

The governor added that 18 months of rental assistance support is available through FEMA, and that the Department of Human Services, the Red Cross and other agencies will work to make sure “that there are either ways they stay in the same hotel, if they are workers for example at that hotel, or other alternatives,” such as vacation rentals and other units under the state’s Fire Relief Housing Program.

The destroyed buildings of King Kamehameha III Elementary are seen from the air on Aug. 10. Gov. Josh Green announced Thursday that the state will lease privately owned land north of Lahaina town to build a temporary school site for students. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

“Hotels are our safety net, and they have taken care of a lot of people,” Green said. “Over time that will change. We will move people to longer-term rentals and different circumstances that suit their lives better.”

James Kunane Tokioka, who leads the state’s Temporary Housing Task Force, said that more than 300 families have been placed in units through the Fire Relief Housing Program, which has about 1,200 property listings. He said they continue to look for units that have a kitchen with a refrigerator and a stove, basic necessities that many people who have been living in hotels do not have access to.

“In the meantime what we want everyone out there to know is we do not condone properties that are asking survivors, including their own hotel employees, to leave without another housing solution in place,” said Tokioka, who is also the director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “So we want to make that clear. We want to make sure that every single survivor has an opportunity, wherever that may be, for shelter during this time period.”

The state is planning to reopen West Maui for tourism on Oct. 8, but Green said he doesn’t expect there will be many people coming, especially after the fires and given that October is typically a slower month for tourism. He said while he understand the concerns of bringing back tourists two months after the fire, the state has also heard from many people worried about losing their jobs and having to move out of state.

“There is a counter narrative that we should not open up for several years. That’s not possible,” Green said. “But we won’t displace individuals who are currently in hotels or other B&Bs or other housing to accommodate anyone. Like I said, we don’t anticipate a large number of people coming. But we also didn’t want the many people who asked us to open up to have to relocate themselves.”

Green said those who are not ready to return to their jobs will not be forced to. “Being in a state of trauma, PTSD, are completely legitimate reasons to not go back to work,” he said.

At the sheltering hotels, the Red Cross has been providing three meals a day, health services, access to recovery resources and daily essentials, said Adam Runkle, deputy coordinating officer with the American Red Cross. All survivors in the program who lived on Maui before the fire and whose primary home is uninhabitable due to the wildfires “will continue to receive shelter and will not be impacted by the end of the safe harbor period on Sept. 29,” Runkle said.

Runkle noted that some people may be nervous with the reopening of West Maui to tourism on Oct. 8, but said “that date has no bearing on the continued noncongregate sheltering services, and at this time the availability of hotel rooms is not a limiting factor in our ability to provide shelter and other services.”

Since Aug. 8, the Red Cross has distributed more than $10 million in direct immediate financial aid, reaching more than 4,100 families representing more than 9,800 individuals, Runkle said. He said the Red Cross’ shelter transition program will also help cover rental assistance, transportation and other needs as people look for longer-term housing. Another phase of financial aid will open this fall, with full details and information on how to apply to be announced in the coming weeks.

Micah Kane, CEO of the Hawai’i Community Foundation, which has raised just over $120 million from more than 200,000 donors across the world over the past 40 days, said that nearly $25 million has been either appropriated or is in the pipeline to more than 100 community organizations across the state supporting Maui County.

“We’re definitely moving right now from a rapid response mode to a stabilization and recovery phase,” Kane said. “And what that really means is we’re looking for deeper, bigger, broader impacts and investments in our community and trying to work hard to leverage our federal, state and county partners, because philanthropy can never take the place of government.”

Kane said the foundation is looking at investments in temporary housing, schools, transportation and health care services.

Green also announced Thursday that the state will set up a new, temporary campus for students of King Kamehameha III Elementary, which was “damaged beyond repair” by the fire. The state will lease privately owned land north of Lahaina town where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will construct modular classrooms and additional buildings. More details will be announced next week.

For more information on the state’s Fire Relief Housing Program, visit dbedt.hawaii.gov/hhfdc/hawaii-fire-relief-housing-program/.

* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

Gov. Josh Green discusses Maui wildfire recovery efforts during a news conference in Honolulu on Thursday morning. Screenshot of ‘Olelo / Office of the Governor Facebook

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