Federal flood map changes to be discussed
Changes made to Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate Maps could affect an Oahu property owner’s requirement for federally mandated flood insurance.
A public information meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Honolulu Country Club, 1690 Ala Puumalu St., for residents and business owners to learn about the upcoming changes to these maps, which can also affect a property owner’s compliance with local flood-plain management regulations.
The maps are created for flood-plain management and insurance purposes, according to the National Flood Insurance Program’s website. AFIRMwill show a community’s base flood elevations, flood zones and flood-plain boundaries. Owners are also able to see what flood zone their properties are located in.
Significant changes to the maps will affect areas around Waimalu Stream, Halawa Stream and Kailua. Selected areas that will have some flood hazard designation changes can be viewed online at dlnreng.hawaii.gov/nfip/?attachment_ id=1217.
Map changes will take effect Nov. 5. Property owners can watch a video tutorial on how to view the preliminary FIRM using the state’s Flood Hazard Assessment Tool at gis.hawaiinfip.org/fhat/FHAT_prelim_maps.mp4.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Pair convicted of squatting in judge’s home
LIHUE >> A woman and man convicted of squatting in the unoccupied home of a retired Kauai judge have been ordered to pay $28,556.53 in restitution.
The Garden Island
reports 50-year-old Elizabeth Gayer and 51-year-old Chad George Schaefer were arrested last year. They pleaded no contest to second-degree burglary in April and were sentenced Wednesday.
Investigators say they damaged a home owned by Gerald Matsunaga, a retired administrative district judge.
The home was unoccupied but furnished with family belongings. Investigators say squatters moved in items and left human waste among garbage.
Matsunaga says he replaced locks, but people forced their way back in.
Kauai Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe sentenced Gayer and Schaefer to four years of felony probation and a year in jail with credit for time served.
House sustains $20,000 damage in morning fire
Kauai firefighters extinguished a fire that caused $20,000 damage to a Hanapepe home early Friday.
At about 1 a.m. firefighters responded to the blaze at MoiRoad. The fire was quickly extinguished and contained to one bedroom, according to county spokeswoman Sarah Blane.
One of the male occupants was transported to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and has since been released.
It’s unknown at this time how many people reside at the home. Keri Russell, spokeswoman of the American Red Cross on Kauai, declined to say how many residents were affected.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Star-Advertiser staff and Associated Press