Gov. Ige requests help from FEMA’s individual assistance programs
Index
Superstar Maxi Priest playing
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Thursday, June 14, 2018
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INSIDE
• Pride of America returns
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time since early May. A7
• University of Hawaii football
receives "volcano waiver" to
host Hilo camp Friday. B1
IGE
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AA FFEEAASSTT FFIITT FFOORR FFAATTHHEERRSS
SUNDAY JUNE 17TH
BRUNCH 10:30a - 2p •
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Finding them
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Featuring: Prime Rib, Snow Crab, Suckling Pig & Kalua Pig
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Issue No. 165
20 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A9
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ISLAND BEAT,
PAGE A10
KILAUEA ERUPTION
Federal aid pending
By MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Federal aid for people
affected by the Kilauea
eruption might be approved
soon after Gov. David Ige
signed a request for such
assistance Wednesday.
The letter, addressed to
Jeffrey Byard, associate
administrator for the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency’s office of response
and recovery, requests assistance
from the federal government’s
individual assistance
programs, citing the economic
impacts of the eruption on the
island in general and the lower
Puna region in particular.
The letter specifically
names six programs, which
Jodi Leong, a spokeswoman
for Ige’s office, said are all
of the federal
government’s
individual assistance
programs.
The programs
include:
• Individuals
and Households
Program, which the letter
describes as “necessary
to help survivors get
back on their feet.”
• Transitional Sheltering
Assistance Program, which
will help fill the need for
short-term sheltering.
• Crisis Counseling
Assistance and Training
Program, providing
much-needed mental health
support for evacuees.
• Disaster Unemployment
Assistance.
• Disaster Case
Management, which will
provide evacuees with individualized
recovery plans.
• Disaster Legal Services,
which will assist evacuees
with insurance, landlords
and other legal issues.
Ige’s letter goes into significant
detail in describing
the economic impact the eruption
has had on lower Puna,
as well as broader impacts
on the island as a whole.
An estimated 455 homes
have been destroyed so far,
according to the letter, with
192 of those confirmed to
be primary dwellings. Some
2,700 people have been
ordered to evacuate, and
shelters have seen 5,417
overnight stays as of June 6.
Hawaii County Civil
Defense reported an estimated
450-500 people
were at the shelters during
the most recent count.
Meanwhile, 39 vacation
rentals were reported
destroyed, resulting
in an estimated $37
million in damages.
To date, 28 farmers have
reported a complete loss of
operations, representing a loss
of $14 million, while volcanic
gases downwind of the flow
are impeding the harvest of
cash crops such as macadamia
nuts and coffee beans.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY photo
Fissure 8 lava fountain during an overflight Wednesday morning. Steam and fume rise from fissures 16 and
18 in distance (upper left). View is looking toward the east.
See AID Page A4
Conceptual plan in the
works to help residents
displaced by lava flow
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Mayor Harry Kim is hoping to have
a conceptual plan for a Kaikoo-style
redevelopment project to help those
displaced by the Kilauea eruption
drafted within a month.
Kim said a
committee consisting
of representatives from
Hawaii County, the state,
Federal Emergency
Management Agency and
consultants are working
KIM
on the issue, and has met twice so far.
“Our plan must be comprehensive,
and we absolutely must know
what the needs are,” Kim said.
The Kaikoo project allowed Hilo
residents displaced by the 1960
tsunami to use state land for housing or
businesses. The state law that allowed
that to happen is still on the books.
See HOME Page A4
“If I do my job — and I will do my job — I hope to get a conceptual
plan finished within a month.”
HARRY KIM, Hawaii County Mayor
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