FEMA, along with our federal partners, are on track to provide approximately $3 billion towards Maui wildfire recovery. This includes more than $1.3 billion in mission assignments to expedite recovery through debris removal and disposal, temporary housing, school construction, and infrastructure repair.
FEMA Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs support community efforts focused on long-term recovery. As part of FEMA’s continued commitment to Maui, the agency will be hiring more than 120 staff to support a newly established Joint Recovery Office for Maui County to lead efforts.
Individual Assistance
To date, FEMA has approved over $56.1 million to help 7,141 people recover through the Individual Assistance program, including more than $33.8 million for Housing Assistance and more than $22.2 million for Other Needs Assistance paid directly to survivors.
FEMA’s Rental Assistance
FEMA’s Rental Assistance Program provides money directly to eligible survivors to find their own temporary housing. Hundreds of families are utilizing the rental assistance program. More than $37.3 million has been approved for rental assistance from FEMA.
Direct Housing Assistance
FEMA’s Direct Housing Assistance programs find temporary housing for eligible families:
- Under the Direct Lease program, FEMA leases residential properties directly from property owners for use by survivors. The agency pays rent to the property owners, and the units are offered for up to 18 months, or until February 2025.
- More than $295 million has been spent for the Direct Lease program so far. With this program, FEMA has helped more than 1,200 households find temporary housing.
- Kilohana, a group housing site on Maui, is scheduled to be completed in October 2024. This site will contain 169 units for eligible survivors to use for temporary housing.
- Planning is underway for manufactured housing units on private properties. The manufactured housing units will allow homeowners to live on their property while making repairs to their disaster-damaged home.
Other FEMA-funded services for Maui residents:
- More than $5 million provided for Crisis Counseling.
- More than $17 million provided for Disaster Case Management.
- More than $12 million provided for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
- More than $5,000 provided for Disaster Legal Services.
FEMA Public Assistance & Critical Infrastructure
- FEMA’s Public Assistance program provides money to state, tribal, territorial and local governments and certain types of private non-profits so communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. In total, FEMA has obligated more than $700 million through the Public Assistance program.
- FEMA has obligated more than $473.5 million through the Public Assistance Program for Emergency Work. This work is completed immediately following a disaster to save lives, protect public health and safety, protect improved property or eliminate or lessen an immediate threat of additional damage.
- FEMA has obligated more than $107 million through the Public Assistance Program for Permanent Work. This work is the restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities and the facilities of certain Private Nonprofits.
- FEMA provided nearly $78 million through the Mission Assignments to build a temporary campus for King Kamehameha III Elementary School. The school was damaged in the Lahaina wildfires and was beyond repair. This project was assigned to USACE and took 95 days to complete. The campus includes:
- 38 buildings.
- Air conditioning in all classrooms.
- 30 classrooms that accommodate up to 650 students.
Debris Removal
In August 2023, FEMA mission assigned USACE to conduct debris removal on eligible properties. Early on, USACE estimated that debris removal operations would take a year from the time debris removal work began; they have exceeded all expectations as operations are ahead of schedule. The majority of debris removal will be completed by December 2024; debris removal operations are expected to be complete by January 2025.
- USACE has cleared 98% of residential lots (1,374 out of 1,399), allowing property owners to begin the rebuilding process.
- USACE has cleared 42% of commercial lots (76 out of 159), allowing businesses to plan for the future.
Other debris removal:
- U.S. Coast Guard removed and disposed of 98 vessels from the harbor (mission completed in December 2023).
- 3,080 fire-damaged vehicles have been removed from the burn site and properly disposed of.
- In conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hazardous household material disposal was completed in December 2023.
- EPA developed innovative battery material disposal techniques to retrieve and dispose of electric vehicle and Powerwall batteries. These techniques will be patented for use in future fire events.
- EPA completed the process of testing, inspection, clearing, and capping damaged water and sewer systems in Lahaina on July 17, 2024, clearing the way for Maui County to make the necessary repairs to these systems.
Additional Federal Support:
- Since August 8, more than 350 FEMA personnel supported this disaster operation.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $396 million in federal disaster loans for Hawai‘i businesses, nonprofits and residents impacted by the Maui wildfires. That includes more than $151.2 million for businesses and more than $244.7 million to homeowners and renters to help them rebuild and recover from the disaster.
Initial Response Numbers:
- Initially, FEMA and the American Red Cross sheltered more than 8,000 survivors through emergency sheltering.
- More than 1.5 million meals were served under the FEMA-funded meal program at the emergency hotel sites.
- FEMA also supported non-congregate sheltering in hotels for more than 11 months as disaster survivors found longer term housing options.
- There were 52,132 total visits, including repeat visits, to Disaster Recovery Centers, where residents could work directly with FEMA and other federal staff to assess their needs, register for assistance, receive in-person case management, and connect with voluntary agencies for additional support.
For the latest information on the Maui wildfire recovery efforts, visit mauicounty.gov, mauirecovers.org, fema.gov/disaster/4724 and Hawaii Wildfires – YouTube. Follow FEMA on social media: @FEMARegion9 and facebook.com/fema. You may also get disaster assistance information and download applications at sba.gov/hawaii-wildfires.
