{"id":235368,"date":"2026-06-02T13:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=235368"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:11:47","slug":"waianae-readiness-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/02\/waianae-readiness-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate experts, Waiʻanae community gather to tackle wildfire, flood risks"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Group photo during Waiʻanae<\/span> Readiness Review kick-off meeting. (Photo credit: CRC<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To mark the formal launch of a year-long effort to assess climate vulnerability and build resilience across the Waiʻanae<\/span> Moku, the Waiʻanae<\/span> Readiness Review held its first community meeting on April 29, at Kamehameha Schools\u2019 Kaiāulu<\/span> Community Learning Center in Māʻili.<\/span> The project is led by the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa\u2019s<\/span> Climate Resilience Collaborative<\/a> (CRC<\/abbr>), headed by Chip Fletcher, dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology<\/a> (SOEST<\/abbr>), in partnership with the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> Wildfire Research team<\/a> led by Clay Trauernicht, and the Resilience Office<\/a> of the City and County of Honolulu.<\/p>\n

“We are honored to stand with the people of Waiʻanae<\/span> in this work,” said Fletcher. “Climate resilience is not something the University can define alone from the outside; it must be grown through pilina—with communities, government partners, agencies, and researchers working together in trust and shared kuleana (responsibility). The ʻike<\/span> and lived experience of Waiʻanae<\/span> families, farmers, practitioners, and leaders are essential to understanding the hazards facing the moku and identifying the actions that will protect people, place, and future generations. Guided by aloha ʻāina,<\/span> this effort recognizes that caring for the land and ocean is inseparable from caring for one another.”<\/p>\n

Identifying flood, wildfire hazards<\/h2>\n

CRC<\/abbr> researcher Kayla Yamamoto presented on compound flooding and invited community members to share photographs and firsthand experiences with flooding events to help validate scientific models. Attendees also participated in open discussion, sharing the most pressing challenges and needs across the district.<\/p>\n

The review is structured around two committees comprising community members, farmers, government officials, military installation representatives, technical experts, policymakers and non-profit organizations. The committees will meet six times over the course of the project, contributing their manaʻo<\/span> (thought or idea) and expertise to guide the work.<\/p>\n

CRC<\/abbr> and the UH<\/abbr> Wildfire team are developing climate projections scaled specifically to Waiʻanae,<\/span> covering heat, precipitation\/drought, compound flooding, coastal flooding and erosion, high wave run-up, groundwater inundation and wildfire. Given that wildfire risk is severe across the entire moku, the project\u2019s focus is not on identifying where danger exists, but on determining what actions can be taken to address it.<\/p>\n

More than 90 committee members, community members and project team representatives attended the meeting, which opened with a pule (blessing) led by Nohea Stevens. Presentations from Fletcher, Trauernicht, Captain White of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Susan Veazy of the Office of Local Defense and Community Cooperation outlined the origins of the project\u2019s funding, the process it will follow, and the overarching goal of securing additional resources for priority projects in the moku (district).<\/p>\n

For more information, see SOEST<\/abbr>\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 90 committee members, community members and project team representatives attended the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":235382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[93,1314,92,73,9],"class_list":["post-235368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-climate-change","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","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