HONOLULU — The City and County of Honolulu is inviting Oahu residents to share past experiences with disaster and disaster recovery via the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan Survey.

What You Need To Know

  • The project is funded in part by a post-disaster grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency

  • It was initiated earlier this year, prior to the Maui wildfires, as a follow-up to multiple presidential disaster declarations for Hawaii in 2018

  • The responses gathered will contribute to the city’s first Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan, currently being developed by OCCSR, the Department of Emergency Management, other government agencies and community organizations

  • The survey will be open through Sept. 12, and responses will be integrated into the draft Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan, which will be available for review and public comment later this fall

The project is funded in part by a post-disaster grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It was initiated earlier this year, prior to the Maui wildfires, as a follow-up to multiple presidential disaster declarations for Hawaii in 2018.

According to the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, the survey will gather input on how well residents were able to access relief and recovery resources following recent climate hazard and disaster events, as well as through the health and economic emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2014, there have been 11 major disaster declarations across Hawaii as a result of tropical storms, hurricanes, flooding, land and mudslides, volcanic eruptions and lava flows, earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires.

The responses gathered will contribute to the city’s first Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan, currently being developed by OCCSR, the Department of Emergency Management, other government agencies and community organizations.

As first put forward in Ola: Oahu Resilience Strategy, the plan will include a framework for how the city, community organizations and residents can work together most productively and effectively after a major disaster.

The plan will complement existing disaster response and near-term recovery plans by focusing exclusively on long-term, post-disaster recovery, which may include actions taken months to years ager a disaster and which may benefit from pre-planning.

“Being prepared before, during, and after disasters helps keep our communities safe and improves our collective resilience in ‘bouncing forward’ after events,” OCCSR stated in a release issued on Monday.

The survey will be open through Sept. 12, and responses will be integrated into the draft Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan, which will be available for review and public comment later this fall.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.