Feds, worldwide aid helping Maui recover, Hawaii governor says

Hawaii will allocate $100 million to help families affected by the Maui fires and create a loan program to prevent Lahaina businesses destroyed by the fires from going bankrupt, Gov. Josh Green announced Friday.

The money for families will be allocated from a special revenue source called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF; and will include donations received worldwide from various charities and individuals.

Funding to help Lahaina businesses stay afloat comes from a joint effort with House and Senate leaders, Green said.

“We will make $25 million available immediately in the form of $10,000 and $20,000 bridge grants to help businesses all across Maui survive until the economy recovers,” Green said during a Friday press conference.

The Friday press conference marked one month since deadly fires devastated Lahaina and other areas of Maui.

Since then, Green said, state and local officials have been working non-stop to shelter survivors, deliver supplies and medical care and locate and reunite the missing with their families.

The final tally of those killed in the fires is 115, Green said.

The state has partnered with FEMA, the Army Corp of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a $1 billion effort to clean up toxic materials, so people can return to their homes.

“We are grateful to all our of federal partners, including FEMA, who have worked so hard over the last 30 days to support our emergency response and deliver aid and assistance to survivors,” Green said. “We have received assurances of continued federal support and investment to help West Maui recover and rebuild, and we will support and care for all the survivors of this disaster for as long as it takes.”

Since Aug. 16, the American Red Cross, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, and FEMA have relocated over 7,500 displaced survivors from shelters to 29 hotels and hundreds of Airbnbs. 15,931 people have filed for FEMA relief.

The Maui fires, California floods and Florida hurricanes — and just the onslaught of weather-related disasters including several years of fires in California, Oregon and other states — are causing consternation at the federal level as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund dwindles.

The Biden administration’s $12 billion request for funding, being considered by Congress as its session resumed last week, would help replenish the Disaster Relief Fund that is according to FEMA “approaching exhaustion.” But the sheer volume of disasters in this country has many thinking that leaning on FEMA as the sole provider of disaster relief won’t be enough.

President Biden declared Maui a natural disaster area on Aug. 10, which made the regional eligible for FEMA relief money.

The three major rating agencies have long said that the combination of FEMA relief and money provided by the state act as a backstop on individual credits from school districts to towns. But the FEMA funding question being debated in Congress has many wondering how sustainable that is.

Both Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have said in reports that the fires are not likely to affect credit ratings.

Fitch “does not expect a material credit impact on Maui County, which has an AA-plus/stable Fitch rating, from wildfire damage given the county’s strong revenue control, conservative budget management, robust reserves, and disaster spending reimbursement from FEMA,” analysts wrote in an Aug. 23 report.

The county will need to address the fires’ upfront costs, possible lawsuits, and preventative measures against future disasters, Fitch analysts wrote. 

Maui has substantial reserves to help address these costs, with audited fiscal 2022 total unrestricted general fund reserves totaling $210 million (which includes $53 million designated for disaster response) or approximately 49% of spending, Fitch analysts wrote. Analysts also added that the county’s eligible reimbursement costs will be covered by FEMA eventually.

As for housing residents affected by the fires, Green said the state has “entered into an agreement with the Red Cross to house our people for a minimum of 36 weeks.”

The state has also reached out to homeowners who have rented out vacation homes to accommodate displaced residents. The residents can apply for aid through FEMA to cover the rental costs, he said.

FEMA will continue to assist with direct leases and rental assistance grants to ensure that people stay housed well into 2025, and these costs will be covered by federal assistance, state resources and humanitarian aid, Green said.

The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. launched a website hhfdcfirereliefhousing@housing.gov to help people find housing.

Tens of millions of dollars have poured into the state from around the world.

“I have also ordered a full investigation into the cause of the fires and the emergency response,” Green said. “We will get answers to exactly what happened and there will be full accountability and transparency to the public.”

He added that all travel restrictions to West Maui will end on Oct. 8.

“I will continue to keep you updated on our aid and relief efforts as we move forward, both in daily updates and in more comprehensive monthly assessments of our efforts,” Green said.