Routine emergency siren tests resume on Maui

LAHAINA >> Hawaii emergency warning sirens were tested Monday for the first time since the deadly Aug. 8 Lahaina fire, on the same day disaster relief and recovery program changes took place on Maui as well.

One of the program changes is a deadline extension for people living in Maui hotels and other noncongregate shelters to show that they are eligible to continue such lodging, which was made available for those displaced by wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui.

Gov. Josh Green announced Monday that a Saturday deadline had been extended through today.

“Hawaii remains committed to ensuring that every person displaced from home by this disaster will have a place to stay,” he said in a statement.

Around 350 or so households did not meet the Saturday deadline and faced being displaced from the emergency lodging created as interim living accommodations until longer-term housing could be made available for qualified people still in need of more suitable housing with kitchens, more privacy and other things.

About 7,000 people from roughly 3,000 households have been living in hotels and similar noncongregate lodging with support services including meals and health care.

But only around 2,500 households had established full eligibility for continued use as of Monday morning, up from about 2,200 on Friday, according to American Red Cross information cited by Green.

For most people, qualifying for the program entails registering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to show displacement from housing in Lahaina or Upcountry Maui due to the fires.

Among the 500 or so households yet to qualify were nearly 150 not to be displaced because they qualified under an alternate Red Cross program serving undocumented people, Hawaii residents from Compact of Free Association states in the Pacific, or families that were homeless before the fire and have minor children or members with disabilities.

A congregate shelter for other people who were homeless before the fire opened Friday in Puunene to accommodate up to 150 people.

The Red Cross, which operates the noncongregate shelter program under a contract with the state, urged displaced wildfire survivors to use the nonprofit’s program if they can’t register with FEMA.

“Citizenship and immigration status have nothing to do with whether you qualify, and we don’t share that information with the government,” Brad Kieserman, Red Cross vice president for disaster operations and logistics, said in a statement. “Our focus today is on making sure that everyone who is in this shelter program because they were displaced from their homes by the fire stays in this program.”

Noncongregate lodging had been provided initially without registration requirements, and despite weeks of advance notification about Friday’s approaching deadline, many households did not respond until room keys stopped working, the governor said in his announcement.

Green said displaced wildfire survivors will be able to continue to register for both Red Cross and FEMA lodging assistance Monday and today until everyone in the noncongregate shelters has had their cases reviewed and appropriately resolved.

“We realize that the people of Maui have been traumatized by the wildfires, that they may not speak English, that they may have questions about trusting the government — so we’re offering our full support to help keep eligible kamaaina in the NCS program,” he said. “This lodging is a vital part of the safety net, and we’re pleased the Red Cross has made the extra effort to help all of those in our community who are eligible but had difficulties with the process.”

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen in a statement Monday expressed gratitude for the continuing and extended Red Cross and FEMA efforts to house people displaced by the fires.

“It’s important we continue doing all we can to offer stability to those displaced by the disaster,” he said.

County officials Monday also expanded a zone in Lahaina for people, who lived there or own property in the zone, to return.

Three additional zones identified on a county map as 2-C, 2-D and 2-E along Kuuipo, Aa and Lokia streets were reopened to people who lived there or own property there.

An initial zone opened Sept. 25 and remains open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those with vehicle passes or proper identification.

According to Maui Emergency Management Agency Interim Administrator Darryl Oliveira, about 50% of residents and property owners have visited the initial zone, 1-C along Kaniau Road.

The three additional zones opened Monday include 72 land parcels and an estimated 250 residents. The county issued an initial 66 passes for the three zones Friday and Saturday.

During the first two reentry days Monday and today for the new zones, volunteers from Red Cross, Hawaii Pacific Disaster Relief and Samaritan’s Purse offered to assist returnees from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Throughout Maui and the state Monday, a test of Hawaii’s emergency warning sirens was conducted, resuming a regular test on the first state workday of each month after state officials canceled the test in September.

Monday’s test at 11:45 a.m. included a new mobile siren in Lahaina.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency took sound level readings from the mobile siren in Lahaina where more businesses are reopening in areas spared from the fire that destroyed about 2,200 structures. HI-EMA officials said adjustments to the siren could be made depending on an ana­lysis of test results.

HI-EMA received two separate reports about one siren in Wailuku failing to sound during Monday’s test in which a 60-second steady tone was sounded. The agency intends to look into that matter as part of a normal follow-up to the monthly test.

There are 80 warning sirens on Maui.

The statewide September test was canceled because it was going to be within 15 minutes of a planned moment of worldwide prayer and remembrance for Maui wildfire victims who were either killed or remain missing.

At least 98 people were killed in the Lahaina fire, and the Maui Emergency Management Agency decided against sounding sirens in the area to warn people of what quickly became a firestorm driven by gale-force winds.

Herman Andaya, administrator of Maui Emergency Management at the time, defended his decision over not using sirens to warn the public Aug. 8, though he later resigned.

Andaya had said that Hawaii’s warning sirens are primarily used for tsunamis, not for brush fires. He also said he was worried that people would have moved toward the mountains and into the flames because the public is trained to seek higher ground when a siren goes off.

Maui Emergency Management did send out public alerts through text messages and through radio and television about the fire. But the power was out for most of the day, and many residents said they received no warning.

After a protocol review, HI-EMA recently reiterated that fire is indeed one of the hazards that can prompt siren activation, and that the system has long been intended as all-hazards warning system that, when sounded, means to “seek more information.”