Governor Josh Green, M.D.

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), its core divisions, and attached agencies have been working with federal, state, county, and community groups to sup­port the Hawai‘i fire relief efforts.

In a swift response, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), DBEDT’s attached agency, activated the Department Operations Center at the Hawai‘i Conven­tion Center. HTA and its partners worked with airlines and ground transportation companies to successfully evacuate more than 40,000 people from West Maui within 72 hours following the fire. Additionally, an Assistance Center was opened at the Hawai‘i Convention Center in partnership with the American Red Cross to aid about 300 evacuees in finding accommodations on O‘ahu or flights home. This endeavor was made possible by the efforts of HTA staff, the American Red Cross, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai‘i, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea.

In addition to the efforts to evacuate people from Maui, DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka, and Disaster Management Coordinator for the Office of the Governor Luke Meyers, led a Joint Housing Task Force and worked with the hospitality industry, the American Red Cross, Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) and the Federal Emer­gency Management Agency (FEMA) to also find housing for survivors on Maui. Together they were able to relocate more than 4,400 Lāhainā fire survivors from evacuation shelters into West Maui hotels and timeshare units.

“What happened in Lāhainā was an over­whelming tragedy,” said DBEDT Director Tokioka. “Seeing the devastation motivated all of us to provide unparalleled collaboration. We opened a command center at the Hawai‘i Convention Center with multiple branches of FEMA, HI-EMA, American Red Cross, Small Business Admini­stration, and DBEDT’s attached agencies, which has been key to our disaster response.”

Dozens of West Maui properties are also housing hundreds of first responders and emergency workers, as well as their own employees. In addition to these efforts, Director Cathy Betts, Deputy Director Joseph Campos, and Deputy Director Trista Speer from the Department of Human Services worked with Airbnb to find housing for about 900 individuals.

DBEDT’s attached agency, the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corp­oration (HHFDC) also launched the Hawai‘i Fire Relief Housing Program within days of the fire. The program connects those in urgent need of housing with homeowners willing to assist by offering unoccupied rooms, units, or houses on a temporary basis. Landlords, management companies, and homeowners have offered to rent more than a thousand houses, apartment units, and rooms to thousands of Maui residents who lost their homes. More than a hundred families have been placed into housing through this program. All residents are currently out of shelters and living out of the housing being provided from the various programs and also from those who have rendered personal aid and offering to the survivors of the fires.