As rainy winter season nears, Maui in a race against time to avoid a ‘second disaster’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – State House Finance Committee members are on Maui this week to tour fire-devastated areas and say the coming rainy season could be dangerous.

State Rep. Kyle Yamashita, who represents the Upcountry area, said there’s a potential for a “second disaster” as heavy rains fall on burned areas, triggering flash floods.

With all the thousands of burned acres, many of which are Upcountry, the land is now exposed and unstable. Experts said it is a race against time because it is expected to be a rainy winter.

“We’re trying to do something as fast as we can through all our federal processes,” said John Mathews, assistant director of Engineering for U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Pacific Island Area.

“We are trying to help revegetate the landscape. We are trying to protect downstream and we are trying to put it back to at least something close to what it was, if not better.”

After the August fires, approximately 12,000 acres of land is now exposed with no vegetation cover. Heavy rains could wash downhill and ultimately into the ocean.

Officials want to mitigate that by helping with vegetation restoration.

They said they would like to plant only native plants, but that is not realistic.

“We are very supportive of the idea of planting native grasses, native shrubs, native trees,” said Michael Constantinides, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service assistant director for Technology. “The practical reality is that there’s probably not enough planting material.”

Constantinides say there is not enough native plants, grasses, trees and shrubs to cover the acreage that’s burned. He said planting non-native plants is better than doing nothing at all.

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