Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday requested a presidential disaster declaration in response to the June 27 lava flow.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday requested a presidential disaster declaration in response to the June 27 lava flow.
If President Barack Obama makes the declaration, that would free up federal funds to help recoup some of the more than $6 million spent by Hawaii County so far and an estimated $16 million in planned expenditures in response to the flow.
That additional $16 million would “exhaust the state’s Major Disaster Fund,” the governor’s office wrote in the request to the president.
The county has spent millions working to reopen Railroad Avenue, Government Beach Road and Chain of Craters Road as emergency evacuation routes, as well as funding multiple helicopter overflights of the lava, and setting up temporary police and fire stations behind the area where the lava flow is anticipated to cross Highway 130.
“The projected path of the lava flow takes it directly through the center of Pahoa town, which serves as the main center of commerce in the district,” the governor’s letter reads. “The effect of the destruction and/or isolation of the businesses and other institutions in Pahoa will be devastating to the entire Puna District.
“If the lava flow crosses Highway 130 as projected, residential communities, schools, government facilities, businesses, and industry will be under threat of disaster due to lava inundation, fire, and/or being land locked and isolated from the rest of the community.”
In addition to the county’s expenditures, the federal funds could help the state’s efforts to “accommodate approximately 900 schoolchildren that will be displaced by the lava flow, and support county requests for additional air quality monitoring.”
The governor made a similar request for a presidential disaster declaration to free up federal funding for homeowners affected by Tropical Storm Iselle, but that request was denied. An appeal was also denied last week as Hurricane Ana neared the Big Island.
In the declaration request, the governor’s office noted that Hawaii County “has already drawn upon an estimated $2.6 million in its emergency reserves to assist with the recovery from Iselle,” and the state had so far spent about $1.3 million and faces $13.2 million in damage and debris expenses.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.