SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HERE TO HELP
DISASTER RECOVERY CENTER OPENS AT KEAAU HIGH SCHOOL
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE FEMA PAGE 5A
KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii’s
next governor will face a host
of challenges but where the Big
Island is concerned, one issue
stands a literal mountain above
the rest.
At a gubernatorial forum
ARE YOU READY?
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Prepare for emergency
Prepare for emergency
situations before they occur
situations before
they occur.
Pick up a copy of the Handbook for Emergency Preparedness at our
offi ces in Hilo or Kona or online at hawaiielectriclight.com
Eruption stable,
focused on fissure 8
TRIBUNE-HERALD STAFF
convened Friday night at
Kealakehe High School, moderator
Sherry Bracken questioned
the top two prospective candidates
from each party based
on recent polling data about
reaction to and recovery from
the Kilauea volcano eruption.
Nowhere throughout the
evening were all four candidates
more in-step than on the matter
of whether they would support
continued construction in highrisk
lava areas. Although precise
numerical reports from state
and county sources vary, there
is no disputing that hundreds of
Hundreds of displaced
Puna residents visited a
Disaster Recovery Center
on Friday at Keaau High
School to apply for assistance
with rebuilding
their lives.
Friday, only one day
after President Donald
Trump approved federal
individual assistance in
Hawaii County, was the
first day of operation for
the center, which will
be open for 12 hours
every day “as long as it
needs to,” said David
Mace, media relations
manager for the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency.
The high school’s
gymnasium was packed
with cubicles, desks
and queues, with scores
of residents waiting on
the bleachers to meet
with FEMA representatives,
who would take
down residents’ personal
information.
Residents were asked
to include details about
what damages they
incurred from the volcanic
eruption, what special
needs they or their
household have and any
other specifics that would
help determine the level
of grant for which they
would be eligible.
Iris Felidae said she
HILO — Mayor Harry Kim
was released Friday from Hilo
Medical Center after being
driven by
ambulance to
the emergency
room.
According
to the Mayor’s
Office, Kim was
diagnosed with
a relapse of
pneumonia and
was resting at
home. The office said the mayor
was suffering severe chills early
Friday morning, and his wife
called 911 for an ambulance.
The hospital visit follows
Kim, 78, being diagnosed with
walking pneumonia in early
May after suffering his fifth
heart attack in late April.
Managing Director Wil
Okabe said only 20 percent of
the mayor’s heart is functional.
Okabe said Kim is looking
at doing a procedure on the
mainland to reduce stress
on his heart, but he didn’t
have details.
“He has to take care of his
pneumonia first,” the managing
director said.
Okabe noted Kim sounded
“very tired” Friday morning but
that he also is a “fighter,” and
he didn’t know long the mayor
will be out of the office. Kim
returned to work the following
Monday after his last heart
attack in April, which occurred
on a Thursday.
“He has to rest. He can’t overexert
himself in his condition,
and we got to try to remind him
his health is very important
to the people of Hawaii,” the
managing director said. “And
I know people will continue
to pray for him, for his speedy
recovery, and this is what we
got to do.”
Okabe said Kim is usually
taking time to rest during his
workdays but was working
until 10 p.m. Thursday to check
on the progress of the opening
of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s Disaster
Recovery Center at the Keaau
High School gym. The center
opened Friday morning.
HILO — The eruption
on Kilauea’s lower East
Rift Zone has covered 9.2
square miles and added
320 acres to the shoreline
in Kapoho as of Friday.
Geologist Mike Zoeller
said there was minor
activity at fissures 16
and 18, but the eruption
remained focused at fissure
8 in Leilani Estates.
That fissure continued to
produce a long lava flow
into the ocean.
Fissure 8 reached
heights between 100 and
130 feet with bursts up to
180 feet Friday. The spatter
cone forming around
it was 170 feet tall.
Zoeller said that lava
channel remains stable
with few spill overs.
He said the lava flow
was moving at a speed of
15 mph near the fissure
and 1 mph near Kapoho.
Tom Birchard, a
National Weather Service
meteorologist, said the
lava ocean entry is affecting
weather in the area.
He said updrafts from
the entry are creating
clouds that are dropping
rain near Kapoho and
Pahoa.
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INSIDE
MANAFORT
BEHIND BARS
Judge sends
Trump campaign
chair to jail
pending trial
PAGE 3A
▼
LEARNING
FROM THE
PAST
Survivors of 1990
eruption compare
it to today’s
PAGE 5A
▼
HI 86 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 4A
VOL. 50, NO. 167 16 PAGES
KILAUEA ERUPTION
VOG MEETING WEDNESDAY
TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
A volcanic ash and vog community meeting will be
5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Konawaena Elementary
School cafeteria, 81-901 Onouli Road in Kealakekua.
Vog and ash impact questions will be
answered by Department of Health experts
on air quality data, health effects of vog and
protecting yourself from vog exposure.
Kim taken to
hospital again
MAYOR’S HEART
FUNCTIONING AT 20 PERCENT
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Kim
The Disaster Recovery Center opens Friday morning at the gym at Keaau
High School. HOLLYN JOHNSON/TRIBUNE-HERALD
Gubernatorial candidates Colleen Hanabusa, left, Gov. David Ige, John Carroll and Andria
Tupola express their platforms at the Community Forum Friday evening at Kealakehe High
School. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Movers and shakers
KILAUEA ERUPTION, MANAGEMENT DOMINATES
GUBERNATORIAL FORUM IN KONA
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE CANDIDATES PAGE 6A
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