$16M in federal funds granted for Hawaii disaster repairs
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2018
A motorist drives over a crack in the asphalt of Highway 11 near the entrance of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in 2018.
More than $16 million in federal funding is slated for Hawaii to repair roads as well as homes damaged by major natural disasters last year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced nearly $12 million in emergency relief funds for Hawaii to repair roads due to the Kilauea eruption, earthquakes and lava flow of May 2018.
Another $780,000 was granted to Hawaii federal lands for repairs due to the eruption.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is granting Hawaii $3.9 million in new federal disaster relief funding to help recover from the torrential storms of April 2018.
The funding is intended to help rebuild communities on Oahu, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, as well as make them more resilient, particularly in low- and moderate-income areas.
In April 2018, torrential rains resulted in flooding, destroying homes on Kauai and Oahu.
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“As we continue to rebuild, these new federal dollars will be a huge help,” said Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a news release. “I will continue to fight for federal resources at every opportunity to help make Honolulu more resilient.”
Schtaz’s office says Hawaii has now received more than half a billion dollars in federal relief funding to help the state recover from the April 2018 storms, Hurricane Lane and the Kilauea eruption on Hawaii island.
