Early estimates on the impacts of the back-to-back storms on city-owned properties and operations exceed $100 million, according to officials. But city leaders also say the final price tag could shift as assessments continue and as city agencies seek federal reimbursement.
During the Honolulu City Council’s Executive Management Committee meeting Wednesday, Chair Tommy Waters underscored the widespread damage caused by what officials dubbed “Kona storms 1 and 2.”
“Just as a reminder, folks … you may recall that (in) Kona storm 1 there were 95,954 customers without electricity,” Waters said. “On Kona storm 2, 115,300 customers were without electricity.”
He added that a total of 236 people were rescued from floodwaters, with 10 people hospitalized and 72 people and two dogs rescued via airlift.
Evacuation orders affected 5,500 residents in Waialua and Haleiwa, according to Waters, while 4,000 to 5,000 people were at possible risk from a dam failure.
At the meeting, Council members raised concerns about how the city handled storm debris — specifically, its decision to dump 2,700 tons of mixed waste at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park, or CORP, which is located near residential neighborhoods along Kamehameha Highway in Waipio.
During the second storm that caused extensive damage March 23, the city Department of Environmental Services activated the park to allow 288 truckloads of waste to be placed at the so-called temporary debris storage and reduction site.
“By 2 p.m., we had that site open,” ENV Director Roger Babcock told the Council. “We were working with the Department of Parks and Recreation to make that site possible.”
He noted that two private contractors — Texas-based debris hauler DRC Emergency Services LLC and debris monitor Tetra Tech Inc. of California — also were activated at about the same time to assist. Tetra Tech is tasked with testing for contaminated soil at the CORP site, which was cleared of waste in early April, leaving an open scar.
Council member Val Okimoto, whose Council District 8includes Waipio Gentry, asked about ongoing soil testing at the former debris field.
“How far down did we have to dig?” she asked.
“They dug down about 3 to 5 inches,” Babcock replied. “Now that same site, there’s 50 discreet locations in that (area) where they’re going to take samples before digging any more.”
He noted the material scraped from the site, totaling roughly 1,000 cubic yards, will undergo mandatory, federally regulated testing prior to disposal at the city’s Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei. If future contamination is found at the CORP site, Babcock said, further excavation will continue in 3- to 6-inch increments until clean soil is reached.
Okimoto asked for a timeline for the test work.
Babcock said the soil samples are sent to the mainland for the actual testing. “The first one we sampled on March 25 and we got the results back on April 10, so that was 16 days,” he explained. “So we’re saying a little more than two weeks for each sort of sampling round.”
“And we’re now on the second sampling round?” Okimoto asked.
Babcock said the first “baseline sample” was taken only around the debris site before it was cleared. He noted the cleared site awaits further testing.
“So they do have a plan that’s approved for doing the sampling that has 50 locations on that (site, but) those 50 samples have not been taken yet,” he said. “And once that is completed, then they’ll be sent off to” the mainland.
“What hasn’t happened yet will be the first round of post-closure sampling, which is the 50 sites within that exposed area,” Babcock added.
He said further sampling will find out if “nothing else needs to be done” at the CORP site or “whether additional excavation needs to be done in certain areas.”
The contracted work is expected to cost $4.5 million, Babcock said.
Waters also pressed officials on why storm-related debris from the North Shore wasn’t immediately transported to the city’s Waimanalo Gulch landfill rather than to CORP.
Babcock said the scale of the disaster made going to the landfill impractical. “We really didn’t know how much there was going to be,” he added.
He noted storm debris was quickly piling up in hard-hit areas like Waialua, prompting the city to activate emergency contracts and establish a centralized sorting site at CORP. Babcock stressed that diversion, not just disposal, was a key goal.
“We don’t want to bury that if we don’t have to,” he said, referring to recyclable materials such as appliances and metal. “We could have gotten 100,000 tons … ; we really didn’t know at that point.”
Andy Kawano, the city’s budget and fiscal services director, said the city’s latest estimate for storm-related costs is $100.4 million. “That does not include the Board of Water Supply that will submit a separate request for assistance,” he added.
Of that total, Kawano said about $70 million is tied to the city’s capital improvement program while roughly $30 million impacts the general fund, including “emergency-type work” like police services.
City employee overtime reached $2.5 million due the storms, he said.
To offset those costs, the city is seeking federal reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Our estimates will go through a scoping process with FEMA … ensuring that the costs … are covered by the program,” Kawano said, noting the city expects to submit its formal request in coming days.
On April 7, the Trump administration authorized Hawaii to recoup at least 75% of eligible recovery costs. Gov. Josh Green has estimated that total storm damage statewide exceeds $1 billion.
Still, questions remain over how Honolulu will cover up-front costs.
Council member Esther Kia‘aina queried whether the city would draw from its current $5.19 billion budget or tap into next fiscal year’s proposed $5.08 billion spending plan that’s still pending formal approval in June.
Kawano said he hopes all city departments “can dig through their savings and use as much of that as possible, based on functional work that they do.”
He noted the city could “defer the use of the fiscal stability fund” — its rainy-day fund — which officials say contains $200 million.
The state, he added, is also expected to request more time to calculate its federal relief.
“We do feel that the governor will continue to extend the emergency proclamation,” Kawano said, “because the state, like the city and the rest of the counties, know that they need time working with FEMA to firm up numbers.”
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