Report Title:

Maui County; Storm Recovery and Damage Mitigation; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates moneys to Maui county for fiscal year 2008-2009 for damage repair and mitigation projects necessary as a result of the winter storms of December 2007.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2740

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to the county of maui.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  In December 2007, winds in the fifty to seventy-plus mile per hour range and heavy flooding and rainfall struck the Hawaiian Islands, causing extensive property damage, downed power poles, land and mudslides, thunderstorms, and waterspouts.

     On Maui, official rainfall totals reached the one hundred year event level in some areas and Maui county sustained estimated damages in excess of $1,200,000 from the storms.  County, state, and federal officials conducted a preliminary damage assessment following the storms, and officials reached an initial assessment of twenty-nine homes or businesses classified as major or destroyed, and another sixty‑five classified as sustaining minor damage.

     In late December, the Hawaii national guard began participating in a joint operation with the county of Maui for debris removal in areas heavily impacted by the severe storm.  A fourteen-member unit of Maui-based guardsmen was dispatched to begin efforts first in Kula, and a review in early January 2008 will help determine the allocation of additional guard resources in areas seriously impacted and requiring debris removal work.

     While state and county officials continue to reach out to residents and businesses that have suffered losses, more resources will be needed to complete the recovery process.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the county of Maui for the costs of recovery and damage mitigation necessary as a result of the winter storms of December 2007.

     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 as a grant-in-aid to the county of Maui for damage repair and mitigation projects necessary as a result of the winter storms of December 2007.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the county of Maui for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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