Question: I saw on the news that TSA is saying small airports might shut down because of the funding lapse. Is Hawaii included in this? Would it affect the neighbor islands?

Answer: No, Hawaii is not included, according to the state Department of Transportation, which issued a statement Friday to reassure the public that all Hawaii airports “are being staffed and will remain open and operational.”

U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials have been quoted in national media as saying that the federal budget impasse over funding for parts of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, has taken such a toll on airport security screeners, who aren’t being paid, that many are no longer showing up for work. As absences increase, lines at airport security checkpoints get longer. One proposed solution, at least on the mainland, is to close smaller airports and redeploy TSA screeners to larger, busier ones. But that’s not the case in Hawaii, according to DOT.

“All of our airports, including our smaller airports on the neighbor islands, are vital transportation links for our residents and visitors and they will remain open to serve the traveling public,” Hawaii DOT Director Ed Sniffen said in the news release. “HDOT is in close communication with our federal partners impacted by the partial shutdown and we want to thank them for keeping our airports staffed and ensuring they remain operational, while minimizing disruptions to travelers. We appreciate the commitment of our dedicated federal workers and their families, who are again facing uncertainty due to the partial shutdown. We will continue to support these individuals who we work closely with on a daily basis, so they can continue to provide critical service to air travelers.”

The TSA funding lapse began Feb. 14.

Q: Please make sure that people on SNAP know they might be able to get help replacing food they had to throw out because of the power outages during the first Kona low. They wouldn’t seek help from HECO, but from the state.

A: Yes, Hawaii’s Department of Human Services says replacement benefits are available for eligible participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who lost food during the first Kona low storm, March 13-15, due to power outages. “SNAP replacement benefits allow eligible households to be reimbursed for food, purchased with SNAP benefits, that was destroyed. The replacement amount will be based on the value of food lost, not to exceed the total monthly SNAP benefit issued to the household,” DHS said in a news release.

For more information and to download an application, go to humanservices.hawaii.gov. Eligible SNAP households can apply by contacting any DHS Processing Center or by calling the Public Assistance Information Line at 1-855-643-1643, the news release said.

Hawaii residents ineligible for this aid may call 211 or go to auw211.org for information about other food resources.

Q: Why is our starred driver’s license not considered an enhanced ID?

A: Hawaii’s federally compliant driver’s license or state ID (starred), also known as a REAL ID, prove that the holder is lawfully in the United States, not that they are a U.S. citizen — although most applicants are and had submitted proof of that with their application, using a U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport, for example, to establish their legal name, legal presence and date of birth.

However, noncitizens lawfully in the U.S. also can obtain a REAL ID in Hawaii or another state; the starred credential alone is not proof of citizenship.

By contrast, enhanced driver’s licenses, issued by only five states, all of which border Canada, establish proof of identity and U.S. citizenship. “EDLs are a low-cost, convenient option for entering the United States from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean through a land or sea port of entry, in addition to serving as a permit to drive,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Mahalo

Please express a mahalo for all the neighbors who are helping each other get through these storms. And the people who are working through it — everyone from the mail delivery people to the bus drivers to the heavy-equipment operators and of course the emergency responders. I have lived on Oahu all my long life and this is bad. — A reader

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.

As Hawaii endures its worst flooding in more than 20 years, officials urged people in hard-hit areas to “LEAVE NOW”. That warning early on Saturday came after heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, and still more was expected over the weekend.

Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old dam could fail.

“The remaining access road out of Waialua is at high risk of failure if rainfall continues,” an emergency alert said.

On the island of Maui, authorities upgraded an evacuation advisory to a warning for some parts of Lahaina, which is still reeling from a deadly 2023 wildfire, because of retention basins nearing capacity.

North Shore Oahu residents who did not evacuate were heartened in the morning by receding waters and moments of blue sky, but more rain was on the way.

“Don’t let your guard down just yet,” said Tina Stall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “There’s still potential for more flooding impacts.”

Racquel Achiu, a Waialua farmer who stayed to care for her livestock, found her goats in knee-high water Thursday night, and an hour later, her family’s seven dogs were in danger of drowning in an elevated kennel. Her nephew and son-in-law rushed out into chest-high water to save them.

“My dogs’ heads were literally just sticking out of the water,” Achiu said. “There was so much water, I cannot even express.”

Governor Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1bn, including damage to airports, schools, roads, homes and a Maui hospital in Kula.

“This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state,” Green said at a news conference. He also said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances of federal support.

Green said the flooding was the state’s most serious since 2004, when homes and a University of Hawaii library were swamped.

Dozens and perhaps hundreds of homes have been damaged, but officials have yet to fully assess the destruction. Some 5,500 people were under evacuation orders.

Officials blamed some of the devastation on the sheer amount of rain that fell in a short amount of time on saturated land. Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12in (20 to 30cm), the National Weather Service said.

More than 200 people were rescued from the rising waters, authorities said, but no deaths were reported and no one was unaccounted for. Crews searched by air and by water for stranded people.

Winter storm systems known as “Kona lows”, which feature southerly or south-westerly winds that bring in moisture-laden air, have been responsible for the deluges in the past two weeks. The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii have increased amid human-caused global heating, experts say.

Officials have been closely watching the Wahiawa dam, which has been vulnerable for decades, saying it was “at risk of imminent failure”.

Water levels in the dam about 17 miles (28km) north-west of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, receded by late Friday and then went up again with overnight rain.

However the dam appeared to be less of a concern the following morning than the “breadth of hazardous conditions” across the island, said Molly Pierce, a spokesperson for Oahu’s department of emergency management.

She noted substantial flooding including in residential parts of Honolulu.

“We’re seeing the waters receding in a lot of places, but again with that saturation, just the smallest amount of water can bring those raging back up,” Pierce said. “So even if it’s blue skies where you are, I think we all know in Hawaii that if rain is falling on the mountain, it’s coming to you soon enough.”