#maui emergency management agency

The County’s Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) encourages community members to attend the annual Emergency Preparedness Expo on Saturday, May 9, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, 275 W. Kaʻahumanu Ave., Kahului.

Maui County Council Member Kauanoe Batangan has proposed an across-the-board 1.25% budget cut for non-first-responder departments that would yield somewhat more than $5 million in savings from Mayor Richard Bissen’s fiscal 2027 $1.61 billion budget proposal.

A multiagency, full-scale training exercise will be held Thursday, April 23, 2026, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Kahului, according to Maui Emergency Management Agency. During this time, smoke and emergency vehicle activity may be visible in the areas of Kahului Harbor and Kahului Airport.

The Maui Emergency Management Agency is seeking more robust resources to address a climate-change-fueled surge in emergency activations caused by frequent wildfires and severe kona low storms.

The County’s Emergency Management Agency is reminding the community that April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaiʻi, an opportunity for people to prepare, protect their property and safeguard loved ones by understanding tsunami risks and taking practical preparedness steps.

Established by Mayor Richard Bissen in the wake of the 2023 Maui wildfires, the County of Maui Office of Recovery is taking on the County’s long-term recovery efforts from subsequent emergencies and natural disasters, such as the recent kona storms.

Mayor Richard Bissen presented a $1.616 billion proposed fiscal 2027 budget to the Maui County Council on Wednesday morning, prioritizing affordable housing, Lahaina wildfire recovery and water system improvements.

The Maui Food Bank is coordinating with local partner agencies and the Maui Emergency Management Agency to support mass feeding efforts on Molokaʻi following recent severe weather impacts.

No areas remain under MEMA evacuation warnings; however, some potentially high-impact areas remain under evacuation advisories out of an abundance of caution.

Areas currently under Maui Emergency Management Agency evacuation WARNING are some neighborhoods in Molokaʻi, Lahaina, Kīhei and ʻĪao Valley, as well as Wailuku along ʻĪao River, and Wahikuli and Leali‘I neighborhoods below Ka La‘i Ola due to retention basin level monitoring.

Evacuation advisories have been issued at 9:28 a.m. today, March 20, 2026, for Wahikuli and Leialiʻi areas below Ka Laʻi Ola in Lahaina due to nearby retention basins nearing capacity, according to Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). County of Maui contracted crews are actively working to redirect overflow and actively pumping water from the Lahaina basin to help keep levels safe. Warnings and advisories are NOT mandatory evacuation orders.

South Kīhei has been identified by MEMA as an area at high-risk of flooding due to significant sediment accumulation from the recent kona low storm. Ongoing cleanup efforts are focused on restoring drainage capacity, but elevated flood risk remains. Other areas of moderate-risk include ʻĪao, East Molokaʻi, Lahaina, and East Maui.

While Maui County braces for more severe weather, council members are poised to take action Friday morning on a $15 million request for emergency funding, following a Wednesday committee update on the effort to rebuild from the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire disaster.

The new kona storm forecast to reach the state beginning today follows a severe kona storm that impacted the state March 13 to 16, 2026. Maui received the highest rainfall totals in the state from the first kona storm, and wind speeds were second highest in the state, according to NWS data. Flooding and wind severely damaged portions of South Maui, ‘Īao, Upper Kula, East Maui and Lahaina.

County of Maui officials are urging residents to prepare for a second kona low storm that is expected to bring moderate to heavy rainfall to Maui County — less than a week after a powerful, prolonged kona storm caused widespread flooding and strong wind. Meanwhile, County departments are taking steps to prepare while responding to existing damages.

The Maui Food Bank is coordinating with the Maui Emergency Management Agency and Maui United Way to load helicopter flights to deliver 2,000 pounds of shelf-stable food to Hāna residents cut off by the recent “March Kona Low” storm system.

Maui Emergency Management Agency is urging residents and businesses (including commercial properties) damaged by the recent kona storm to submit damage reports to the emergency management agency.

Many County of Maui departments have been actively working on cleanup since Sunday in several hard-hit areas of the kona storm, which brought widespread flooding, high wind and severe rain to many parts of the four-island County.

An evacuation warning notice has been downgraded to an advisory at 10:13 a.m. today, March 15, 2026, for Wahikuli and Leialiʻi areas below Ka Laʻi Ola in Lahaina due to the lower risk of flooding, according to Maui Emergency Management Agency.

To prepare for a powerful kona storm, Mayor Richard Bissen signed an emergency proclamation on Tuesday, that lets the county access state and federal assistance and streamlines procedures to quickly deploy resources, personnel and services if needed.