Three long-awaited plans that aim to guide Hawaii County’s recovery from the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano — a recovery and resilience plan, an economic recovery plan, and a volcanic risk assessment — have been released.
A guiding strategic document, the Kilauea Recovery and Resilience Plan, identifies a number of projects related to eruption recovery, disaster readiness and community resilience.
Disaster Recovery Officer Douglas Le said this document is the “overarching document to support recovery from the 2018 eruption.”
Meanwhile, Le said the economic recovery plan provides a “robust snapshot of data” for the year following the eruption.
The economic plan measures impacts in terms of lost business revenue, the loss of real property and infrastructure, and job loss.
The volcanic risk assessment provides an analysis of volcanic hazards around the island.
“The resources made available for recovery are unprecedented for this county,” Le told the Tribune-Herald this morning. “The plans, I think, help bring people together around implementing and taking action toward recovery.”
Le said state and federal partners also need to know what the county’slong-term plans are.
The 4-month-long eruption, which began May 3, 2018, in Leilani Estates, ultimately covered 13.7 square miles in lava and created 875 acres of new land along the Puna coast. More than 700 structures were destroyed.
Although the three plans initially were expected a year ago, Le said that between community engagement, technical analysis and ongoing work with the county’s recovery task force, the process took more time.
“We’re excited to be able to release the plans now and refocus on implementation, with the planning process pau,” he said.
The planning process is important to the recovery, but so too is action, Le said.
While recovery efforts have been ongoing as the plans were being developed, Le said there’s a clear desire within the community and the county to be able to take further action.
Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz, however, said, “none of these (plans) are going to save us.”
“It puts people and the aina at the center, so I see these plans as a blueprint for building a more diversified, resilient economy from the ground up,” she said earlier today.
The recovery plans can be found online at recovery.hawaiicounty.gov/planning/recovery-plans-strategies.
See Saturday’s Tribune-Herald for more.
