West Maui Community Disaster Plan Meeting, March 16

File image: emergency response on Front St. in Lahaina. PC: Mark Valentine

The Maui Emergency Management Agency, the Pacific Disaster Center, State Emergency Management Agency and the West Maui Taxpayers Association have put together a series of community meetings to help West Maui residents develop a disaster plan that is directly suited for their side of the island.

The meetings will cover issues that directly impact West Maui and have been a factor in the past during emergency events, such as isolation from Maui Memorial Medical Center and Kahului Airport due to road closures on the Honoapiʻilani Highway from brushfires, rockslides and flooding events.

The meetings are a part of the Hawaiian Hazards and Resilience Program to help develop plans through a series of monthly workshops presented by field experts in community mitigation, preparedness and response and recovery planning.

The upcoming West Maui Community Disaster Plan meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, March 16, at 5:30 p.m. at the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater. The workshop will cover flood awareness, warning and response and feature guest speaker Kevin Kodama, Senior Service Hydrologist with the Honolulu Weather Forecast Office, National Weather Service.

Additional meetings will be held at the following dates and times:

April 20 5:30-8 p.m. Lahaina Civic Center – Amphitheater
May 18 5:30-8 p.m. Lahaina Civic Center – Amphitheater

Further meetings will be announced at a later date. All meetings are free and open to the public.