With heavy rains, high winds, and flooding barraging the islands of Oahu and Kauai since Saturday, causing severe damage to roadways and homes, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a disaster declaration on March 6.
The proclamation allows the state to activate civil defense and initiate other emergency functions to maintain public health and safety and expedites repairs to Kuhio Highway on Kauai.
“This occurrence of a severe, sudden, and extraordinary event has caused extensive damages, losses, and suffering of such character and magnitude to affect the health, welfare, and living conditions of a substantial number of persons, thereby affecting the economy of the State, which is expected to be of such nature as to warrant rehabilitative assistance from the State,” the declaration said.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross, which has helped many residents impacted by the storm, conducted its own survey of the damage with the help of 35 volunteers.
“Our preliminary totals for this past storm show that 17 homes were impacted on Oahu and 12 on Kauai. The most serious damages found was in Haena, Kauai where some homes were rendered uninhabitable. However, the most concentrated damages were in Hawaii Kai with one house measuring a foot of water inside their living room,” the Red Cross reports.
Red Cross volunteers are helping with the clean up by handing out “clean-up kits” donated by The Home Depot.
The Red Cross asks if your home has sustained damage, please contact the non profit, humanitarian organization at 645-1911. Volunteers can help and there is no charge. The Red Cross, which accepts no government subsidies, is also accepting donations.