Members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency will travel to Hawaii Island this week to assess the damage from the Mauna Loa eruption, according to a release.

What You Need To Know

  • FEMA and HI-EMA personnel will head to Hawaii Island this week to assess damage from the Mauna Loa eruption

  • The two agencies will assess physical damage to infrastructure and look at resources used to support the County's response to the eruption

  • In order to be reimbursed through a federal Major Disaster Declaration, a minimum cost of about $890,000 for Hawaii County or $2.58 million for the State would be needed to qualify

  • The findings from the assessment will be presented to Gov. Josh Green, who will decide whether to request a federal disaster declaration, which would help Hawaii recover costs

The inspection is part of a preliminary assessment by the two agencies that will determine whether Hawaii qualifies to receive federal disaster assistance through FEMA. 

The federal and state agencies will be examining damage to Mauna Loa Observatory Road and any other infrastructure impacted by the lava. The county also received support through the deployment of 20 Hawaii National Guard personnel, who assisted with traffic control and security, and from HI-EMA, who helped stand up the county’s Emergency Operations Center. 

"The Observatory road was the most significant damage. I believe there were a total of four places where roads were crossed by lava. That includes both the Observatory road and gravel access roads. In addition, there were eligible costs for emergency protective measures taken during the incident," Adam Weintraub, the communication director for HI-EMA, told Spectrum News Hawaii in an email.

The assessment will be presented to Gov. Josh Green, who will decide whether to request a federal disaster declaration to help Hawaii recover costs from the impacts of the eruption. If the governor does announce a declaration, many of Hawaii’s expenses would be reimbursed by FEMA, reducing local funding to about 25%. The federal funds would be used to reimburse whoever originally spent them. For example, the County supplied personnel who worked overtime to provide emergency protective measures, so the County would be reimbursed.    

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her ideas and feedback at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com. 

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