Maui Wildfire Update – August 31 as of 1 p.m.
Aloha,
Here are the latest Maui wildfire news, updates, and resources you need to know.
Hawai‘i Department of Health continues its response to the Maui wildfire crisis.
- In a news release today, DOH shared the following updates about the resources available and ongoing efforts to help Maui recover from the devastating fires:
- Medical and mental health care services are available at area clinics.
- Unsafe water advisories are still in effect for Lahaina and Upper Kula. DOH and the EPA are providing technical support to the Maui Department of Water Supply.
- DOH has deployed additional particulate (PM2.5) sensors in Lāhainā to monitor air quality. Safety tips are available here.
FEMA acknowledges the challenge of responding to the Maui wildfire and Hurricane Idalia.
- FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell asked Congress for an additional $12 billion in funding to meet the needs of ongoing recoveries.
- According to agency data, just 19% of FEMA staff are available at the moment.
- U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda said FEMA going unfunded “is absolutely not an option.”
- House lawmakers, returning on Sept. 12, will have just 12 work days to pass 11 annual appropriations bills. If they don’t, billions of dollars of federal relief money for Hawai‘i could sit unspent as long as the government is shut down.
The public wants county and state leaders to take accountability for failures in the wildfire response.
- Maui County Mayor and other state officials are facing calls to resign, primarily in backlash on social media, as questions about the wildfire response and lack of transparency linger.
- Political analyst Colin Moore said, “There were failures and those should be acknowledged. For people at the very top, this is their responsibility.”
- Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran, who represented Wailuku, Kahului and Waihe‘e, resigned yesterday amid concerns about his role as a private attorney in connection with litigation over the Lahaina wildfire.
Parents and teachers urged the Department of Education to keep Lahaina students in Lahaina during a series of community meetings yesterday.
- Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena Elementary survived the fire but remain closed. King Kamehameha III Elementary School on Front Street was damaged beyond repair.
- The DOE announced a tentative reopening date for the three campuses of Oct. 16, as long as it is safe for students and staff to return and power sources and broadband connectivity have been stabilized.
- Residents expressed concerns about sending children past the ruins of Lahaina and separating kids from their parents. Parents also asked about mental health resources and whether campuses would be truly safe after the environmental assessments.
UHERO issued a report exploring frameworks for assessing the devastating impacts of the Maui wildfires, their ongoing effects and the challenges ahead.
- The report “After the Maui wildfires: The road ahead” addresses housing and urban economics, regional economic development, environmental economics, labor economics, public health, public finance and governance.
- Key stats from the report include:
- Visitor spending on Maui is down by an estimated $10 million to $15 million per day.
- Roughly 2,000 homes in Lahaina were lost in the fire, representing 3% of Maui’s entire residential housing stock.
- More than 22% of the water consumed in the Lāhainā area was supplied by underlying groundwater aquifers in the region, which may now be tainted.
- About 3,000 students have been displaced from their local school, and roughly 2,000 remain unenrolled.
Tomorrow, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners will lead a statewide vigil for Maui.
- Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, a Maui-based kumu hula (hula teacher) and leader in Hawaiian culture, said, “There’s an urgent need for prayer, cleansing, and reflection so that together, we can help Maui and Hawai‘i heal.”
- Services will be streaming and held in person at various locations throughout the islands. Visit https://www.hawaiisoul.org/Maui/ for more information.
Mahalo nui loa,
Your BG Team