By Yiming Fu, Report for America corp member
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green honored the memory of those who passed after the August 8, 2023 fire in Maui. This past year was focused on coming together and beginning to clear debris, Green said. But now, Maui is now in its rebuilding stage.
More than 12,000 people were displaced and 3,000 buildings destroyed. The cost for rebuilding Maui will be an estimated $12 billion.
“It is not about money, it is about healing,” Green said. “And that is what we have to do as a team.”
About 99% of families have moved out of hotels into long-term rentals, Green said, and FEMA will move the remaining 41 families soon. The next step will be moving people into transitional houses. As of Friday, 1,044 transitional units which have been authorized or acquired.
Around 2,000 new housing units will be available in the next year, Green said. This includes 810 new permanent housing units and 200 units of affordable workforce housing in Lahaina.
A new school was built in Lahaina in 95 days, and Green said “Aloha Grants” will give $5,000 to everyone who works in Lahaina schools. A new Kaiser Permanente clinic was also built within 9 weeks.
State and county leaders shared that 98% of residential lots and nearly 50% of commercial properties have been cleared of debris, with the hope that owners will return at the end of the year.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate announced at the press conference that they placed 80 wildfire detection sensors across Maui and across Hawai’i, which detect early stages of wildfires. These sensors are in the testing phase.
“This momentum continues to give our community hope,” Mayor Richard Bissen said at the press conference. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of federal, state and nonprofit partners, as well as our local and county workforce, which we are incredibly grateful for.”
(Yiming Fu is based in Maui and follows the recovery from the Maui fire for AsAmNews)
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