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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-11-29 Letter to Ben Carson re County of Hawaii Disaster Recovery aF , fr y- •' !,•. Wil Okabe " 6l Managing Director Harry Kim Morar Barbara J. Kossow •••,4'iii.SS.- Deputy Managing Director • County of Hawaii Office of the Mayor 25 Aupuni Street,Suite 2603 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 • (808)961-8211 • Fax(808)961-6553 KONA. 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy., Bldg C • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 (808)323-4444 • Fax(808)323-4440 November 29, 2018 The Honorable Ben Carson U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20410 Dear Secretary Carson: RE: County of Hawaii Disaster Recovery I am writing to ask for your attention to our unique disaster. Your staff are currently considering how much Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to allocate to various disasters across the nation. I am concerned because the formulas HUD uses to calculate allocations may not account for the unique nature of our Kilauea Volcanic Eruption disaster (DR- 4366) and its profound impacts. Hawaii County was hit with two major disasters at the same time in 2018 —the three-month Kilauea Eruption plus Hurricane Lane. Together, they have permanently altered our landscape, communities, and economy. Losses have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Given Hawaii's reputation as an idyllic vacation destination, it is important that you understand the reality of life in Hawaii County: • We are "The Big Island," but with only 200,000 people, our population is small and rural. The scale of the disasters was enormous relative to our small size. • Many of our people are poor. More than half of our families struggle to meet basic daily needs. • The eruption was centered in the heart of our most socio-economically vulnerable communities, pushing many households deeper into poverty and destroying what little wealth they had. County of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer November 29, 2018 Page 2 • Our island was facing an affordable housing and homelessness crisis before the disasters, and now conditions are worse. • The County's annual operating budget is only $500M, which is a fraction of the disaster impacts and the costs of recovery. Please also understand that lava is very different from a storm or a flood. Recovery is not simply a matter of clearing roads, cleaning-up property, and restoring power. Many of our losses are permanent: • Over 8,000 acres were inundated by lava. That lava is now rock that is hundreds of feet thick in some areas and covers entire neighborhoods, farms, a school, beloved cultural sites, recreational destinations, roadways, water systems, and large portions of the electrical grid. • 700+ homes were destroyed totaling over $100M in property losses. • 3,000+ parcels were destroyed or made inaccessible, translating into $5M in annual real property tax revenue losses. • A 38 megawatt geothermal plant shut down and was isolated, resulting in the loss of 1/3 of the County's power production and half of its renewable energy portfolio. • Economic impacts are in the $100s of millions, including an unprecedented 134- day closure of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, our largest tourist attraction and economic engine. To recover, we have to mitigate the effects of future eruptions by relocating and rebuilding entire communities, making them stronger and more resilient. FEMA and SBA have been fantastic partners in recovering from the disasters. However, we need additional assistance for the very long and expensive road ahead. We need community development funds for land acquisition, redevelopment, and related infrastructure costs, which cannot be funded by FEMA programs but are ideal for the HUD CDBG-DR program. By our calculations, assuming interim State support, we need upwards of$350 million in CDBG-DR assistance to fully recover and rebuild as a more resilient community. We are told that allocations based on HUD's CDBG-DR formula are far below that amount. But we are also told that you have the discretion to consider equity and other factors when making CDBG-DR allocations. With that in mind, I am asking for your help. County of liawat i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer November 29, 2018 Page 3 Please let Roy Takemoto (roy.takemoto©hawaiicounty.gov) in my office know if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, ARRY KI Mayor, County of Hawai'i c: The Honorable Brian E. Schatz U.S. State Senator 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm 7-212 Honolulu, HI 96850 The Honorable Mazie K. Hirono U.S. State Senator 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-106 Honolulu, HI 96850 Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard 300 Ala Moana Blvd, Room 5-104 Honolulu, HI 96850 Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa 1132 Bishop Street, Suite 1910 Honolulu, HI 96813 Ryan T. Okahara Field Office Director, Honolulu Field Office 1132 Bishop Street, Suite 1400 Honolulu, HI 96813-4918 Stan Gimont U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20410 Todd Richardson U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20410 County of Hawaf i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer