{"id":224802,"date":"2025-11-04T08:25:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=224802"},"modified":"2025-11-04T08:25:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:25:03","slug":"kauai-disaster-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/04\/kauai-disaster-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaua\u02bbi adopts first-ever framework to guide post-disaster recovery, redevelopment"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"kauai\"
Hanalei Pier in April 2018 during record flooding event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In past years Kauaʻi<\/span> has experienced devastating tropical cyclones, wildfires, flooding, high surf and wave events. In response, the County of Kauaʻi<\/span> and University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant College Program<\/a> (Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant) developed a framework to help Kauaʻi<\/span>\u2019s communities prepare more effectively and better support recovery following natural disasters. The written guidelines for disaster recovery operations were formally adopted by the Kauaʻi<\/span> County Council in September.<\/p>\n

The Kauaʻi<\/span> County Council recognized the increasing threats due to climate change, and the importance of the Pre-Disaster Recovery Framework<\/a>, through the passage of the “Resolution Adopting the County of Kauaʻi<\/span> Pre-Disaster Recovery Framework.”<\/p>\n

“This framework represents the power of preparation and collaboration,” said Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami. “I am deeply grateful to our partners at Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant, our County departments, and our community organizations for helping Kaua\u2018i be ready to recover stronger, safer, and more resilient than ever.”<\/p>\n

Recovery requires community coordination<\/h2>\n

This is the first set of written guidelines in Kauaʻi<\/span> that have been developed to guide the actions and decision-making for recovery and redevelopment post disaster. The guidelines recognize that effective disaster recovery requires the entire community, including state and local governments, utilities, nonprofit organizations and community members.<\/p>\n

“This framework establishes a recovery management organization with clear kuleana for County and State government departments as well as other non-profit organizations that are involved with recovery,” said Ruby Pap, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant extension specialist who led the project. “It will help to facilitate better working relationships within the recovery community, better relationships between government and communities, more resilient rebuilding, and will result in a more holistic view of disaster recovery.”<\/p>\n

As part of this project, ʻĀina<\/span> Alliance, a non-profit community-based organization in Anahola, Kauaʻi<\/span> conducted disaster recovery community visioning exercises with the Anahola community, which culminated in the “Building Back Better: Pre-disaster Framework for Anahola, Kauaʻi<\/span>” report. Their process can serve as a model for other communities to follow across the island.<\/p>\n

The plan was developed with guidance from the County Recovery Working Group and Stakeholder Advisory Group, with representatives from more than 40 departments and organizations led by the Office of the Mayor, Kauaʻi<\/span> Emergency Management Agency, Kauaʻi<\/span> County Planning Department and the Office of Economic Development.<\/p>\n

For more information, see Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

–By Cindy Knapman<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The County of Kauaʻi<\/span> and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant developed a framework to help Kauaʻi<\/span>\u2019s communities prepare more effectively and support recovery following natural disasters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":224790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1409,92,635,9,438],"class_list":["post-224802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-disaster-emergency","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-sea-grant-college-program","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-sea-grant","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t