While Democrats and Republicans alike cannot wait to send more money we don’t have to Ukraine and Gaza, thousands of Maui wildfire survivors still lack housing over seven months after the fire.
Surprisingly, even mainstream ABC News and Hawaii’s Democratic Gov. Josh Green admitted that a large number of Lahaina residents are still living out of hotels. Green claimed that “up to” 30 people move into “longer-term housing” every day, but, as of March 27, that still left thousands without housing. And, if previous reports are true, accommodations for survivors are not exactly top-notch facilities.
Rental units are available and “modular transitional housing units” are being built by federal and state governments with the goal of housing all displaced survivors by July 1, per Green and ABC. The quality of the units is unclear, and some are not in a good location for survivors.
One issue now, Green said, is that many available rentals are not in West Maui, and some Lahaina residents have refused them because they want to stay near their jobs and their children’s schools…
Green said people are being given four opportunities to accept housing that is offered and two chances to appeal an option provided. He said some people have rejected housing four, five and even six times.
ABC seemingly tried to frame Green as understanding, but with individuals who lost everything in the fire only being offered inconvenient government housing units too far from everyone they love, it’s no wonder something better is desired.
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Green, however, made it clear he (using taxpayer money, of course) doesn’t want to keep paying for hotels no matter how inconvenient and unsuitable the other housing is. “Once that transitional housing comes online, honestly, people will have to go move into those if they haven’t left the hotels yet because it’s only fair,” Democrat governor said, according to ABC. “We need the resources so that we can build the next school, so that we can rebuild clinics that were lost during the fire.”
Maybe instead of building a dock and sending yet more aid for jihad-loving Gazans or funding LGBTQ activism with U.S. taxpayer money, Biden could spare a little more for Maui residents?
Maui has a severe housing shortage. In West Maui, much of the housing that does exist has been used as vacation rentals for tourists…The fire destroyed 3,971 properties and caused $4 billion to $6 billion in property damage.
Of these properties, 561 were occupied by homeowners. One-quarter of these lots have already been cleared of debris, Green said.
He says “already” — after more than seven months. While permits for rebuilding in Lahaina will supposedly be available later in 2024, per ABC, it is not clear how many former residents will be able to rebuild. Displaced survivors have long feared that they could find themselves overlooked in favor of rich outsiders as Lahaina is rebuilt from the ashes.
Obviously there is no easy solution for the unfortunate displaced Maui residents, and government involvement usually creates more problems than it solves, but Maui survivors have not been a priority for Democrats on the state or federal levels for the past 7+ months. They have been left out in the cold, both politically and literally.