ASKING FOR FEDERAL AID
ASSISTANCE PENDING FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY LAVA
Lava fountains from Fissure 8, seen during an overflight Wednesday morning. Steam and fumes rise from fissures 16
and 18 in distance (upper left). U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/COURTESY PHOTO
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
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
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
KILAUEA ERUPTION
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
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• 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
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A PLAN FOR
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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,
Cruising in Kona RELIEF GREETS PRIDE OF AMERICA’S
KAILUA-KONA — Kona Target staff
knew what it meant when team member
Renee Mundell strolled in Wednesday
morning clad in a pair of shorts.
And with broad smiles and shaka
signs, they rejoiced.
“They go, ‘Oh, the ship is back!’”
Mundell said. “‘You’re going back to the
ship.’”
The ship in question is the Pride of
America, part of the Norwegian Cruise
Lines (NCL) fleet, which hadn’t made
port in Kailua-Kona since May 9.
Passengers disembarking from the
ship Wednesday morning said they were
notified shortly before they initially set
sail that the Pride of America wouldn’t
be stopping in Hilo or Kona, but would
instead spend an extra day off each Oahu
and Maui.
Reaction was mixed.
“I was a little bit kind of thinking the
air quality was going to be bad, so I didn’t
really want to deal with being in nasty
vog,” said Wendy Jones, whose party
planned to stroll along Alii Drive before
scoping out a spot to snorkel. “I don’t feel
sick yet.”
Charles Edwards and his wife came to
celebrate their 51st anniversary. Having
been to the Big Island once before, making
all the rounds was important to
them.
“We voiced our concern that they
weren’t stopping,” Edwards said as he
waited to board a glass-bottom boat tour.
Roger Maddocks, a geologist, was
waiting with his wife and granddaughter
to board the same vessel as Edwards.
He is rounding out an extended Hawaii
vacation that included a cruise, and
Maddocks happened to be aboard the
Pride of America last week when it
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INSIDE
GROWING
UP THE
HARD WAY
Theatre troupe
teens tackle
tough topics
PAGE 8A
▼
ROAD TRIP
Kealakehe
football books
mainland game
with Utah squad
SPORTS, 1B
▼
HI 85 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 4A
VOL. 50, NO. 165 22 PAGES
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
The Ekekekauoha Band and hula dancer Sammy Fo entertain passengers
from Pride of America Wednesday at Kailua Pier. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
SEE CRUISIN PAGE 4A
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 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.
Kim said he was a college
student at the time of the
SEE DISPLACED PAGE 5A
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE FED AID PAGE 7A
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