One thing was immediately clear in the aftermath of the devastating fires that burned Lahaina to the ground in August 2023: building back this beautiful, historic, multicultural town would be a long and difficult journey. The damage was that vast; the destruction so total.
Almost a year-and-a-half later, life in Lahaina is still nowhere near back to normal. And above all, they want — and deserve — stability and security. Last month, Congress took a big step toward delivering that by approving more than $2 billion to support Maui’s continued recovery.
As disaster response gives way to disaster recovery, one immediate need stands above all else: housing. Just a handful of permanent homes have been rebuilt to date in place of the thousands that were incinerated by the fires.
And in the meantime, survivors have had to constantly move from one temporary housing unit to the next — some as many as five or six times — without the peace of mind that comes with a place to call their own.
Building housing takes time — and enormous resources. Which is why this new federal money — particularly the roughly $1.6 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding — is so important. Over the years, disaster recovery funding has been a lifeline for so many communities across the country that have been devastated by disasters. And the program’s success in states like South Carolina offers important lessons for Maui as it charts a path forward. Among them: we need to keep things simple.
We can’t outsmart ourselves. We need to focus this significant infusion of resources into housing projects that will deliver units quickly. The faster we build homes, the faster people in Lahaina can get back on their feet — it’s that simple.
There are any number of important and worthy causes and community programs that need funding. In fact, there are hundreds of millions of dollars within the package Congress just passed to support small businesses, provide child care, rebuild roads and water infrastructure, and more. But nothing is more pressing than housing.
Without a permanent, stable home, whether you’re a parent or child or senior, things feel uncertain and unpredictable. When will you have to uproot your family again? Will you be forced to leave your friends in school or fall behind in class? Do you have to find a new doctor or miss a regular check-up? Housing is the foundation for everything and everyone.
Since the very first day after the fires, the federal, state and county governments have worked closely together to support survivors and expedite the recovery. That partnership has produced some truly remarkable outcomes — thousands of displaced survivors have never gone without a roof over their heads; debris removal was completed ahead of schedule; a temporary campus for King Kamehameha III Elementary School was constructed from the ground up in just 95 days. That’s government working at its best — and emblematic of how we pull together in Hawaii in a time of need. But all of that is cold comfort if we don’t get this next phase of the recovery right.
For Maui to recover, it needs its people. And the way to keep people on the island — in the only place they’ve ever called home — is to make it possible for them to stay. Lahaina needs homes and we just made a huge leap toward making them a reality. Now it’s time to build.
Brian Schatz is a U.S. senator from Hawaii.
