$15,000 / month to house displaced Maui residents

[randomq]

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/02/14...per-month/

Just curious, how much was paid for Puna residents, and for how long?  I seem to remember shelters and tents for months, not luxury $500/night hotel rooms!

2nd question, isn't private homeowner's insurance supposed to cover this, not taxpayers?  Why are we socializing the losses for Maui?

[terracore]

It seems to me these people would be a lot better off if we paid THEM $15,000.00/month, not Marriott.

[randomq]

Agreed. You could buy/build an ohana unit with that kind of money. You know, if you could get it permitted in 6 months... Great case for prefab/pre-permitted...

Still, I can't help but think Puna residents are considered second-class citizens?

[MyManao]

Still, I can't help but think Puna residents are considered second-class citizens?

I think the term you were looking for is not second-class but rather third world. Second class still belong to.. would still get the roads they need.. third world makes it much easier for the folks on Oahu to just forget about it.. take the taxes and run.

[terracore]

Agreed. You could buy/build an ohana unit with that kind of money. You know, if you could get it permitted in 6 months...  Great case for prefab/pre-permitted...

Still, I can't help but think Puna residents are considered second-class citizens?

Well... yeah.  They opened up the park in Pahoa so that people could camp.  Some churches let people stay in their cafeterias. The park had to eventually be closed because it wasn't safe for children and because biological hazards (like used needles).

So that's what Puna gets.  Maui gets 5-star hotel rooms.

[kalianna]

In all fairness, the scale of the Maui disaster dwarfs what happened here. We would not have been able to even temporarily house 7000 people in the park and churches. But yes, I worked in the World Central Kitchen during the eruption and fed those staying at the park. By August, people had found better places to live and we were essentially feeding the homeless and shut it down.

[HiloJulie]

I guess, at the end of the day, one must ask - what is the other option?

In as much as I may be full of $#@&, I truly don't believe that FEMA, thru its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program (TSA) is eventually going to pay Marriott $500.00 per room per night. Further, each resident getting this assistance may be determined to have insurance coverage that would reimburse this cost, which would have to be signed back over to FEMA. Taken in whole, I am quite confident that both the Federal Government and any involved Insurance Companies will end up paying a negotiated rate per night well under this $500.00 figure.

But having said that, let's just say OK, the Feds whipped out the AMEX Black Card and said have at it.

What is the other option?

FEMA Trailers?

   

[leilanidude]

Further, each resident getting this assistance may be determined to have insurance coverage that would reimburse this cost, which would have to be signed back over to FEMA.
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When FEMA comes crawling in, one of the first questions is if you have insurance and what is the company name and policy number. If you answer YES to having insurance, they more or less go away and give you almost nothing. By nothing, I mean in my case, a couple hundred dollars to cover "repairs" which eventually cost over $50k.

[HiloJulie]

So your 50k in repairs was or was not covered by insurance?

If covered by insurance, then FEMA basically owes you nothing. If not covered by insurance, you would have qualified for some form of relief from FEMA.

Both my husband and I helped numerous people during the lava flows navigate through the entire FEMA process and the amazement we had at peoples opinions of FEMA astounded us. Of the ones we helped, after all was said and done thanked us tremendously with EVERYONE saying that they never should have listened to the various social media posts (and a few about some crazy “Unko”) about FEMA taking your house or in some way screwing people over.

While there is no “one size fits all” policy regarding all of the various disasters FEMA deals with, I ask again, WHAT IS THE OTHER OPTION?

[leilanidude]

So your 50k in repairs was or was not covered by insurance?
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Having insurance and being paid by the insurance company are two very different things. I showed FEMA the denial letter. Based upon that, FEMA should have written me a check for $35,000.