After Kona storms, council presses Emergency Management for more shelters, staff and interim hubs

Councilmembers pressed the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) on March 30 for clearer plans and more resources after the recent Kona low storms revealed gaps in shelter capacity and response.

Chair Waters and several councilmembers said every district needs resilient shelter options and asked why the city could not prioritize design and construction. Vice Chair Tupala recounted setting up a temporary hub in Laie after the storm, saying donated goods and volunteers lacked secure staging and that community-run hubs needed security and coordination with official response partners.

Director Collins said DEM currently has 15 funded positions, asked the committee to consider adding 8 positions included in the proposed budget (he had requested 25 total) and described a longer-term staffing need of about 80 people to provide field coordinators, planners, a watch desk for alerts and sustained emergency-operation capabilities. Collins cautioned that his team has limited capacity and that creating and staffing new permanent shelters requires planning, site selection and interdepartmental coordination (DDC, DFM and Parks & Rec).

Councilmembers supported inspection and retrofitting of existing facilities as a near-term option and urged DEM to produce an inventory of city-owned sites and necessary equipment (high-water vehicles, pumps). Collins said the city can request National Guard high-water vehicles during activations but mutual-aid timelines and isolation in the Pacific mean the city should expand internal capacity.

Next steps: Committee members asked DEM and related departments for a clearer staffing list, inventories of equipment and a plan for integrating temporary hubs with long-term resiliency hubs; the items remain in the CD1 and will be part of subsequent hearings.