At least 260 homes, or 17% of all homes damaged during record rainfall and flooding, were deemed uninhabitable without major repairs, based on reports from residents verified by the county.<\/p>\n
And the damage wasn\u2019t just confined to the North Shore where at least 20 properties were reported as total losses, mainly in Waialua and Mokul\u0113\u02bbia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hundreds of homes were also left uninhabitable down the Windward Coast and into leeward M\u0101noa and Nu\u02bbuanu based on verified accounts.<\/p>\n At least 22 homes in Hale\u02bbiwa were immediately unlivable after the floods, but five properties in K\u0101ne\u02bbohe also suffered major damage and two \u2014 on Okana Place and Wai\u0101hole Valley N. Branch Road \u2014 were verified as total losses.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the surprises for me was just the extent of significant impacts in almost all communities around the island,\u201d Jennifer Walterd, deputy director of emergency management, said on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bulk of the damage was on the North Shore, but the Windward side, especially L\u0101\u02bbie, was heavily impacted. And then you had pockets on the Wai\u02bbanae side, and even in town, there were flood and wind impacts reported. So it was certainly an island-wide event.\u201d<\/p>\n The 1,600 voluntary survey responses underrepresent the damage since not all impacted residents filed reports with the city, Walter said.<\/p>\n L\u0101\u02bbie resident Tania Mahoni said her home flooded incredibly quickly on March 20.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were fine, and then 10 minutes later the water was halfway up our calves,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just like a tidal wave that came straight through.\u201d<\/p>\n She said a family emergency distracted her from doing a county report, and to her knowledge, many other people in the working-class community didn\u2019t complete one either.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were so many forms flying about,\u201d she said, and people were still trying to process what had happened. She has completed an application for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.<\/p>\n There were serious levels of damage on low-lying homes that took out floors and drywall, and residents focused on clearing up debris and sourcing replacement bedding, furniture and supplies. <\/p>\n The cleanup was so rapid that two days after on the Sunday \u201cYou would have walked down the street and thought the damage doesn\u2019t look too bad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mahoni said many families didn\u2019t have insurance, and are still weeks or months away from getting back in their homes. <\/p>\n The reports contain vivid details of the disaster with 110 people reporting more than a foot of floodwater in residential living spaces like bedrooms and kitchens, and two-thirds of all properties experienced flooding of between 1 inch and 11 inches.<\/p>\n Even intact homes could require overhauling from floor to roof.<\/p>\n One resident on Kekio Road in Ka\u02bba\u02bbawa reported over a foot of water throughout the home and listed repairs that would be needed for the entire property, including the electrical system, the foundation, all living spaces, fencing, outside retaining walls, a lanai, the garden shed and the septic system.<\/p>\n A Kailua house had similar flooding and major property damage throughout the building and was overwhelmed by mud and debris, the resident said.<\/p>\n Another 445 properties suffered non-structural damage that required lower levels of repair and were habitable, respondents said.<\/p>\n Another 443 residents reported damage at the nuisance or cosmetic level, and a handful reported their homes were unaffected. <\/p>\n The reports don\u2019t reflect damage to public or commercial buildings.<\/p>\n Reports Key To Unlocking Federal Assistance<\/p>\n On March 25, the city asked residents to report storm-related damage<\/a>, and has been updating some of this information on online dashboards<\/a>, supplemented by assessments from emergency management personnel.<\/p>\n The reports asked residents for details of the structure affected, whether they rented or owned, whether it was their primary residence and information about insurance coverage. They then completed a checklist of the physical damage.<\/p>\n Those details then put the damage into specific categories that align with federal designations. <\/p>\n Affected: Nuisance or cosmetic damage only; cleanup needed but property is safe to live in,<\/p>\n Minor: Property has non-structural damage and needs repair but is currently safe to live in, <\/p>\n Major: Property requires extensive repairs; not safe to occupy without repairs. <\/p>\n Destroyed: Property is a total loss. Cannot be repaired.<\/p>\n It was essential to compile an inventory of damage quickly, Walter said, to reach the critical threshold for unlocking potential federal assistance<\/a> from Federal Emergency Management Agency and other programs.<\/p>\n On the city side, the budget and fiscal services department has been using the information to help provide some property tax relief and the Department of Planning and Permitting has been using the data to expedite emergency repair permits.<\/p>\n The public reports supplement the work of county teams on the ground, she said, and \u201cone of the things we tell them is that for every person that reported, there\u2019s probably neighbors that did not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur instructions to them are to walk around the whole area and talk to people because a lot of times flood damage isn\u2019t always visible, especially if people have cleaned up quickly,\u201d Walter said. \u201cYou\u2019re looking for things like mattresses or sofas out by the trash can that were damaged by debris or water marks.\u201d<\/p>\n The storm damage reports<\/a> themselves are not an application for assistance, and Walter said Thursday the county was soon going to turn the self-reporting tool off and direct people to apply for the federal programs available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency<\/a> and the U.S. Small Business Administration<\/a>. <\/p>\n The deadline for those applications is June 14, and require additional inspections by FEMA and others.<\/p>\n Some households might still qualify for up to $750 cash sooner from FEMA\u2019s Serious Needs Assistance program but need to apply now and preferably in-person<\/a>, she said. <\/p>\n But the information collected has already been valuable to help inform local partners like the American Red Cross where to direct their support.<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, The Salvation Army was delivering some services, and they wanted to make sure it went to people who had addresses with some level of verified damage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The department provided Civil Beat with 900 verified entries documenting the damage reported by the public, two-thirds of all the reports.<\/p>\n The records were anonymized to protect privacy but include zip codes to enable comparisons of damage levels and concentration in different locations.<\/p>\n The highest number of reports that cited the need for roof repairs were in the K\u0101ne\u02bbohe area, ranging from collapsed roofs to missing shingles.<\/p>\n Damage to electrical systems was widely reported across 20 different zip code areas, but the highest concentration was reported in Hale\u02bbiwa, followed by L\u0101\u02bbie and Waialua.<\/p>\n Damage to non-living\/outdoor areas was reported in 270 of the incidents in all locations.<\/p>\n \u201cData Dive\u201d is supported in part by the Will J. Reid Foundation.<\/p>\n![\"Rain](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260407-kf-Kona-Low-Flooding-019-1024x682.jpg\")
Damage reports from O\u02bbahu residents show the Kona low storms in March caused more serious and widespread damage than had previously been thought. Few parts of the island were left unscathed, according to the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management. (Kevin Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2CB00166-1024x683.jpg\")
A fallen banyan tree on Wai\u0101hole Valley Road that neighbors said fell during the March Kona low storms. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n
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