Trump approves disaster aid for Hawaii's
volcano-stricken Big Island
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[June 15, 2018]
By Jolyn Rosa
HONOLULU (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald
Trump on Thursday approved federal emergency housing aid and other
relief for victims of the six-week-old Kilauea Volcano eruption on
Hawaii's Big Island, where hundreds of homes have been destroyed, state
officials said.
The approval came a day after Governor David Ige formally requested
assistance for an estimated 2,800 residents who have lost their homes to
lava flows or were forced from their dwellings under evacuation orders
since Kilauea rumbled back to life on May 3.
Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim has said that rivers of molten rock spewed
from volcanic fissures at the foot of Kilauea have engulfed roughly 600
homes. The governor's office put the number of residences destroyed at
455.
Either tally marks the greatest number of homes claimed over such a
short period by Kilauea - or by any other volcano in Hawaii's modern
history - far surpassing the 215 structures consumed by lava in an
earlier eruption cycle that began in 1983 and continued nearly nonstop
for three decades, experts say.
The latest volcanic eruption also stands as the most destructive in the
United States since at least the cataclysmic 1980 explosion of Mount St.
Helens in Washington state that reduced hundreds of square miles to
wasteland.

The geographical footprint of Kilauea's current upheaval is much
smaller, covering nearly 6,000 acres, or just over 9 square miles (2,400
hectares) of the Big Island in lava, an area roughly seven times Central
Park in Manhattan.
No specific sum of money was sought by the governor for federal disaster
aid, and no dollar figure was attached to the package Trump approved
under the Individuals and Households Program, administered by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported this week that eligible
homeowners and renters could get up to $34,000 each.
The program provides grants to displaced residents to secure temporary
housing while their homes are repaired or rebuilt. Assistance can also
be obtained for repair and replacement costs.
In addition to housing assistance, Trump approved relief from several
other FEMA programs, including crisis counseling, unemployment benefits
and legal aid.
Trump previously issued a major disaster declaration weeks ago
authorizing money from FEMA public assistance grants for the County of
Hawaii, the island's local governing authority.
Residents will be able to register for assistance at a disaster recovery
center that will open on Friday at the Kea‘au High School Gymnasium. The
center will be jointly operated by Hawaii County, the State of Hawaii
and FEMA.
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Lava destroys homes in the Kapoho area, east of Pahoa, during
ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, U.S., June 5,
2018. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

NO END IN SIGHT
His expansion of FEMA assistance came as the Kilauea eruption
entered its 43rd day on Thursday.
In addition to lava and toxic sulfur dioxide gas spewing from about
two-dozen fissures on the eastern flank of the volcano, daily
periodic explosions of ash from the crater at Kilauea's summit have
created a nuisance and health hazard to communities downwind.
Volcanic smog, or vog, carried aloft by the winds has hampered air
quality for parts of the island and been detected as far away as the
western Pacific island of Guam.
The volcanic activity at Kilauea's summit has also triggered
thousands of mostly small-scale earthquakes that have added to the
jitters of residents living nearby and damaged facilities at the
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the island's biggest attraction.
Most of the park remains closed.
A report from the governor accompanying his request for federal aid
documented the larger toll taken on residents of the island's
volcano-stricken Puna district, including disruption of power,
communications and drinking water infrastructure.
It cited an uptick in reports of residents "experiencing acute
mental health effects of fear, anxiety and stress" as the crisis
drags on with no end in sight.
With about one-fifth of Puna's population displaced by the eruption,
the disaster has created a "housing crisis in a rental market that
was already severely constrained," the report said.
In other economic impacts, the report cited losses of nearly $37
million in vacation rentals and $14 million from agriculture,
including half of the state's entire cut-flower industry and 80
percent of its papaya crop.
(Additonal reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles)
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