Hawaiʻi State Identifies Over $1 Billion in Disaster Recovery and Resilience Costs
- Reports
- 7
- Developments
- 1
- Repetition
- 86%
New informationRepeats or wire copies
What happened
Governor Josh Green announced that preliminary damage, recovery, and future resilience needs from four major disasters in 2026 total approximately $1 billion. These costs include roughly $686 million from the Kona Low storms, the May earthquake, Hurricane Lala, and Hurricane Lowell. The state has also identified at least $319 million for mitigation projects, including hardening Honolulu Harbor and building a new state emergency operations center.
Why it matters
The state plans to cover these costs using federal disaster relief, state insurance, legislative appropriations, and Green Fee revenue. The large scale of the required investment highlights the need to strengthen critical infrastructure across the state to prepare for future events.
Who's involved
- Federal Emergency Management AgencyUnited States disaster response agency potentially providing federal disaster relief.
- MauiLocation targeted by the study for an alternate harbor.
- University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaPublic research university relied upon for operational decisions, such as rainfall forecasts.
Who could feel it
Possible knock-on effectsThese are possibilities Brind reasoned out, not predictions, and not advice. Most are not stated in any report.
- Federal Emergency Management AgencySpeculative
The Federal Emergency Management Agency could see increased urgency and volume in needed federal disaster relief funding.
- University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaSpeculative
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa could see increased demand for research services to support state operational decisions.