With more than 3,000 wildfire displaced residents on Maui still living in hotels, Gov. Josh Green says there are enough units available now through rental and direct lease programs that he expects to have the remaining residents transitioned out to longer-term solutions by July 1, 2024.
“I do want to be blunt here, if we don’t get people stepping up, I’m going to drop the hammer on short-term rentals that aren’t able to be used by our people. It’s just not okay that we don’t have housing for our local people. And so, I will propose a moratorium on short-term rentals through emergency rules. I’m sure we will face litigation, but I will do it if we don’t get 3,000 units for our people who have been living in hotels because it’s not civilized to make people wait to get housing after they’ve lost their home in a fire,” said Gov. Green.
US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) met with Housing and Urban Development officials on Tuesday to discuss the agency’s efforts to support federal housing residents impacted by the Maui fires.
The deadline to apply for federal disaster assistance has been extended another 30 days, meaning homeowners and renters with uninsured or underinsured damage to their property from the Maui wildfires have until Saturday, Dec. 9, to apply.
This is also the deadline for Maui’s homeowners, renters and businesses to apply to the US Small Business Administration for a low-interest disaster loan for physical property damage.
Sarah has been in healthcare for over 11 years and was Maui Memorial Medical Center’s first-ever DAISY Award honoree, an international award recognizing extraordinary nurses. She lost her home and all of her belongings in the Lahaina fire.