State civil defense officials are estimating damage from the heavy mid-December storms that hit O‘ahu and Kaua‘i at about $50 million. Civil Defense spokesman Ray Lovell says that residential and business property damage, as well as agricultural losses, will total
State civil defense officials are estimating damage from the heavy mid-December storms that hit O‘ahu and Kaua‘i at about $50 million.
Civil Defense spokesman Ray Lovell says that residential and business property damage, as well as agricultural losses, will total about $40 million. Public infrastructure damage will be in the $5 million to $10 million range.
Lovell says most of the damage occurred on O‘ahu, as Kaua‘i suffered less personal property damage.
President George W. Bush last week declared O‘ahu and Kaua‘i disaster areas. That provides federal aid to individuals and businesses, and for repair of damaged public facilities.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are now in Honolulu to assist aid applicants. A late afternoon press release from FEMA said more than $400,000 in recovery assistance for O‘ahu residents had been approved.
Kaua‘i County officials clarified again yesterday that federal funding assistance for losses sustained from the storms and flooding is limited to government and nonprofit agencies on a cost-sharing basis.
“I’d like to clarify that only state and county government and certain nonprofit agencies that provide services normally performed by government agencies are eligible for FEMA assistance,” said Mark Marshall, Kaua‘i Civil Defense administrator, in a press release.
He noted Kaua‘i did not meet the thresholds required for individual assistance from the federal government — 153 homes destroyed or suffered major damage for FEMA recovery programs and 25 homes destroyed or suffered major damage for businesses to qualify for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.
Kaua‘i residents who sustained damages to their real property as a result of the storms can file a claim for remission of taxes on their real property, the release said.
The deadline to file a claim for disaster relief is roughly one month away.
For more information about the remission of taxes on real property, call the Real Property Assessment office at 241-6222. For disaster recovery information, call the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency at 241-1800.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.
