Preliminary estimates already point to extensive losses: at least $40 million in road damage alone, with residential impacts expected to reach “tens of millions” more, according to the Maui Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA teams will be on Maui through Friday to evaluate infrastructure and housing damage, a key step in determining eligibility for federal disaster aid. Local and state officials have spent the past two weeks surveying affected areas and compiling reports to submit through the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
“We’re still in a response mode,” MEMA Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett said Tuesday before departing for Molokai alongside state and county leaders, including Maui Mayor Richard Bissen. “We still are expanding organization to help us expedite relief to the community and address all of the necessary recovery efforts.”
Gov. Josh Green has requested a Major Disaster Declaration from President Donald Trump following storms across Hawaii, while seeking up to a 90% federal cost share for recovery.
Joint assessments with FEMA are ongoing across all counties, with damage estimates expected to exceed $1 billion statewide.
On Maui, impacts to health care infrastructure are still being evaluated.
Kula Hospital spokesperson Mahie Wong said the facility sustained widespread damage, with “water intrusion and damage across several areas of the Kula Hospital facility.” Initial assessments found impacts across all five floors of the main building, including the emergency department, long-term care and rehab units, while the separate Hale Makamae building also “suffered some water damage.”
“Because of that, we made the decision to relocate patients and residents and close the Kula (emergency department) while we complete comprehensive assessments,” Wong said, noting the Kula Clinic remains open.
Patients have been relocated across Maui, Lanai and Oahu, where “their care continues without interruption.” Wong called it “a large, coordinated effort,” adding no patients or staff were injured.
Officials “do not yet have a confirmed estimate of total damage or repair costs,” she said, and are continuing assessments with state, county and federal partners. It is also too early to determine next steps, she added, noting “we are not yet at a point where decisions about rebuilding or timelines can be made.”
In the meantime, Maui Health and Kaiser Permanente are deploying a mobile medical clinic in Kula to provide urgent and limited emergency care.
Widespread damage
Officials described the disaster as a “countywide event,” with impacts varying by region. On Molokai, Lonokailua-Hewett said early reports already show significant impacts along Kamehameha V Highway.
“There’s a wide range of damage along Kam 5 Highway — 11-plus places where water flows over the roads,” he said. “Some of those roads are undermined. Some of those roads are definitely damaged and some bridges were also damaged as well.”
Low-lying areas in Kaunakakai also saw flooding, with lingering impacts expected even after waters receded.
The storms’ effects have been compounded by saturated ground conditions, increasing the risk of landslides and falling trees even during lighter rainfall.
“Even though it wasn’t this torrential rain, even the light rains are affecting saturated areas,” Lonokailua-Hewett said.
Damage reports
Since March 18, just after the first Kona storm, Maui officials have received at least 900 damage assessment submissions. Of those, about 600 to 700 involve residential properties and roughly 100 are commercial.
Teams of assessors — about 15 pairs daily from county, state, National Guard and volunteer groups — are canvassing neighborhoods across Maui County to verify reports and document damage.
Hazard Mitigation Specialist Chris Wegner said the scale of destruction in some areas is striking.
“Kona 1 was bad, Kona 2 just flushed everything out,” he said.
In Kihei alone, early visual estimates suggest 80% to 90% of homes sustained some level of damage, ranging from minor flooding to major structural impacts.
Kihei Kai collapse
Among the hardest-hit properties was the Kihei Kai condominium complex, where one building completely collapsed after floodwaters undermined its foundation.
“The volume of water that came down the Waiakoa Gulch during this storm two weeks ago carried 40 inches of water under our property, and that water literally washed away the foundation under the entire building and the whole building collapsed,” said Mike Conners, president of the association.
Each unit was valued between $700,000 and $1 million, meaning the 16 destroyed units — out of 24 total units — represent an estimated loss of roughly $11.2 million to $16 million based on tax assessments.
On top of that, the property faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in cleanup costs and the added challenge of replacing about 100,000 cubic yards of earth that was washed away into the ocean, underscoring the scale of damage at the site.
Rebuilding may be unlikely due to shoreline setback regulations.
“We’d love to be able to rebuild it, but we know that the county will limit our opportunity to do so,” Conners said. “This building is torched.”
Residents displaced
For many residents, the storms have upended decades of stability.
In North Kihei, 83-year-old Ludeane Bonner is now staying with family after floodwaters inundated her home of more than 25 years.
“I don’t want to move out, just like how I don’t wanna give up my 1998 Camry,” Bonner said. “This is one of those moments where you just have to stand and say, ‘Where do I start?’”
She described how quickly conditions deteriorated.
She believed her home was fully sealed and initially only worried about water entering through the doorway, but as heavy rain intensified, sudden flash flooding forced water through cracks and seams, quickly spreading into the bedroom with no way to stop it.
Her grandson, Joe Wood, said flooding in the area reached up to 3 feet and lingered for days.
“There was nothing you could’ve done, nobody could have done anything to even try and prevent this,” Wood said.
Cleanup and repairs are already underway, but uncertainty remains over insurance coverage and potential federal assistance.
“Our flood insurance might not cover the full extent … then that (state and federal assistance) might be a better alternate route,” Wood said.
The storms also dramatically altered Maui’s landscape.
Officials say floodwaters from rivers, including those flowing out of Iao Valley, eroded banks, damaged infrastructure and in some cases swept away homes entirely.
In Wailuku, one family said a house near the river was intact Friday evening but completely gone by the next morning.
The storm also split and widened parts of the river, creating new hazards.
“If another storm comes, we’d be really stretched,” Wegner said, noting restoration of the river system will be prioritized.
Emergency response
Emergency crews responded to at least 15 storm-related incidents during the second Kona system, including flood rescues, power outages and structural damage.
Eleven people were rescued across Maui County, many after driving into floodwaters or becoming trapped during outages.
Search efforts for a 71-year-old woman who reportedly fell into the Iao River on Saturday have been suspended due to dangerous conditions, including high water, debris and poor visibility.
Transition to recovery
While response efforts continue, officials say Maui is beginning to transition into recovery.
“We’ve moved from that phase of this Kona storm … and we are now moving into a phase of recovery,” MEMA public information officer Eden Stewart said.
Stewart emphasized that community response has been a key part of recovery, pointing to Hawaii’s aloha spirit and how quickly residents have come together to help one another.
“It takes everyone,” she said, both the government and the community.
The county is also organizing a series of community meetings led by Bissen to hear directly from residents in affected areas, share what recovery may look like and better understand specific needs across Maui County.
Each region faces “its own set of challenges,” she said, and those conversations will help officials direct resources where they are most needed.
She added that public cooperation remains critical, urging residents to heed emergency guidance.
“Please stay off the roads, and please prepare, and please have an emergency plan,” she said, noting that the more prepared residents are, the “more resilient we are as a county, because it takes everybody.”
She said more information on available resources will be released in the coming days as the county works with state and federal partners.
Still, Lonokailua-Hewett emphasized that Maui would need federal assistance to fully recover, explaining that without it the county would only be able to get by rather than restore roads, bridges and communities to pre-disaster conditions.
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