Hawai‘i residents impacted by the storms can seek guidance and resources through a temporary statewide program.
Gov. Josh Green announced on Friday the launch of an interim Disaster Case Management Program that connects people with appropriate resources for their needs.
The program is funded by a joint collaboration between the state, the counties and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and is currently set to continue for 90 days. Now, the program is only available on O‘ahu and Maui, but services on Kauaʻi and Hawai‘i Island will be available “soon,” according to the office of the governor.
During the program’s 90 days of activity, residents impacted by the storms can call Aloha United Way's 211 to be enrolled in the program and to contact one of 40 case managers to assess their needs.
The Hawai‘i Emergency Management agency is the lead state agency administering the program, while Florida-based nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission has been selected to coordinate its operations in each county.
Certain local organizations in each county — such as Aloha United Way, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i and more — will deliver services as needed to people enrolled in the program.
“As we learned in the wake of the devastating 2023 Maui wildfires, connecting people affected with the services and support they need quickly, is an essential part of recovery,” Green said in a statement.
Meanwhile, residents impacted by the storms are still encouraged to report property damage to their respective counties. On O‘ahu, the City and County of Honolulu has launched an online tracker recording storm damage reported throughout the island.
The online dashboard, which the city announced on Friday, includes regional trackers for eight different areas of O‘ahu and an overall dashboard that aggregates data from each of those regional trackers.
The website tracks information submitted by residents describing the storm damage their properties sustained during March’s Kona low storms. That data includes the extent of damage to residence — ranging from “no visible damage” to “destroyed” — whether the property has flood insurance, whether the respondent owned or rented their property and more.
At the time of this article’s publication, there are 1,445 reports of residential damage on O‘ahu, although 371 reports claim “no visible damage”. Of those 1,445 reports, 22 homes are considered wholly destroyed and another 257 will require extensive repairs to be habitable.
On the North Shore, 381 respondents claimed some degree of residential damage, with only eight respondents claiming no visible damage.
The vast majority of respondents — 58% — evidently are unsure whether they have flood insurance, while only 11% reported they do have flood insurance, and another 30% reported they do not.
The dashboard will continue to be updated as more people submit damage reports.
Residents on Maui and Hawai‘i Island are also still encouraged to report damage.
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