HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After Super Typhoon Bavi whipped through the northwestern Pacific over the weekend, volunteers with the American Red Cross are preparing to provide aid.

Traveling through Hawaii for a quicker connection, volunteer Deborah Blaze is among a handful of volunteers staying in Oahu as they await flights to the Northern Mariana Islands. Airport closures have delayed the timeline for volunteers headed to the archipelago.

Blaze is returning to the islands after joining Red Cross relief efforts in the aftermath of another Super Typhoon, Sinlaku, which caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damages there in April.

“The people are so phenomenal. That’s the reason I wanted to go back because I was in Saipan. I was managing a shelter and we became like a family,” Blaze recalled.

Sinlaku claimed 17 lives and displaced thousands, making it the deadliest storm in Micronesia since 2002.

When asked to describe the storm’s devastation, Blaze said, “It was like, it was like a post-war scenario when we first got there. All the trees are ripped off and houses are destroyed.”

As the islands continued to recover, Bavi whipped through the Northern Mariana Islands over the weekend with winds as high as 180 miles an hour.

“We had over a thousand people in the shelter. And when I talked to those residents, a lot of them said, you know, we’ll be back tonight,” Red Cross volunteer Peter Teahen said.

Teahen has been in Saipan since before Bavi’s arrival and drove around the island to assess damage Monday afternoon after a mandated lockdown was lifted.

Because Sinlaku left so much destruction, Teahen said it is unclear what Bavi left behind, adding the damages are, “just not obvious from, you know, just driving down the street. It was a common phrase that I heard. ‘We just have to clean up again.’ You can kind of hear the exhaustion in there.”

To ease the burden on those impacted, hundreds of Red Cross volunteers provided shelter, meals and supplies after Sinlaku and will do so again when it’s safe.

“I get a sense of a very positive culture here and very private culture that, they know that they’re going to have to take care of themselves, but they will need the help of the Red Cross,” Teahen said.

Aubry Hocog, mayor of Rota, an island hit hard by Bavi, told Hawaii News Now, “A lot of our utility poles have been damaged especially in the Songsong area and so really there’s going to be a lot of work that we are going to have to do, but we’re ready for that. I know that our people are concerned, our people are scared, our people are worried, but I know that by working together, communicating with each other, being transparent, that we can overcome this.”

Click here if you want to donate to the Red Cross’ relief efforts. You can also call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999.

If you want to become a volunteer, more information is available here.

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Fried chicken fans have a reason to celebrate today as Popeyes Hawaii marks National Fried Chicken Day with a special one-day-only offer.

On Monday, July 6, participating Popeyes locations across Hawaii are offering five pieces of Signature Chicken for just $5, while supplies last. The deal includes a mix of legs and thighs and is limited to one order per customer and one per vehicle, with no substitutions.

Popeyes says the promotion is a fun way for customers to enjoy its signature crispy, Louisiana-style fried chicken at a value price while celebrating the national food holiday.

The offer is available today only at participating Popeyes Hawaii restaurants including Aiea, Waipahu (Waikele), Kunia, Kapolei, Kailua, Kaneohe, and Pāhoa (Big Island). The offer is limited to one per vehicle in the drive-thru and one order per customer for dine-in, while supplies last.

For more information and participating locations, visit popeyeshawaii.com.

The Hawaii County Windward Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to defer consideration of a bill banning new paid parking lots on the island after hearing input from the planning director and co-author of the measure.

Commissioner JoNelle Fukushima motioned for the deferral, saying it would give the body time to “allow us to do further research.” The vote was 6-0 in support with Commissioner Kanoe Wilson absent and excused.

Bill 154 would prohibit the opening of commercial parking lots and garages in a long list of land zoning categories, including general, village commercial, industrial-commercial mixed, limited industrial and general industrial, as well as in the Downtown Hilo Commercial District.

This would outlaw the practice of charging fees for use of privately operated parking services, except at commercial lots opened and operating before the bill’s passage. These formerly established lots would effectively be “grandfathered” in under the law and be allowed to continue functioning and charging drivers under “nonconforming use” rules.

According to the legislation’s text, paid parking lots “contribute to additional vehicle circulation, traffic congestion and land use patterns that are inconsistent with the county’s planning objectives, including the efficient use of land for housing, agriculture and community benefit.”

It distinguishes between publicly owned paid parking facilities and private ones, stating the former are operated for public purposes, providing access to government services and supporting policy-based transportation goals, while being subject to public planning and oversight.

The County Council’s Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Economic Development voted 6-3 on May 4 to refer the bill to the planning director and dual planning commissions for review. Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi, Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada and Ka‘u Councilwoman Michelle Galimba cast the three “no” votes.

The Planning Department has weighed in on the proposal, offering support for its encouragement of “efficient land use patterns” and reduction of “automobile dependency.” The department also praised how the bill would limit the expansion of large paved surfaces, which would “reduce impervious surface coverage, stormwater runoff and urban heat island effects.”

However, its recommendation report did suggest two exceptions to the ban: retain commercial parking lots as a permitted use within the Downtown Hilo Commercial District, and allow lots to operate in the Resort-Hotel District with a required Use Permit. The report explains that the need for this downtown Hilo carve-out comes from its “concentration of historic structures developed prior to modern parking standards,” which the department claims limits opportunities for on-site parking due to “constrained lot sizes and established development patterns.”

This concern is echoed in written testimony submitted to Thursday’s meeting by the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii, which said the bill could have “unintended consequences” for downtown Hilo and other commercial areas, and could “harm the economic interests of our members and residents.”

During the meeting, Commissioner Thomas Fratinardo asked Planning Director Jeff Darrow if he had read the submitted testimony and would like to offer a rebuttal.

”Yes, I have,” Darrow said. “Basically, that’s one of the reasons why we’re making the adjustments allowing commercial parking lots in downtown Hilo. Downtown Hilo does not have your typical requirements for onsite parking, whereas all the other districts do.”

County Council Chair Holeka Inaba attended the meeting via Zoom and recounted Bill 154’s backstory to commissioners. Inaba explained how the measure was an offshoot of fellow council member Rebecca Villegas’s push to rein in what she described as out-of-control parking fees at private lots in Kailua Village. Her initial efforts took the form of Bill 132, which died in committee in mid-May. Inaba admitted to commissioners that the previous bill “couldn’t proceed without causing some potential harm to the county in the future” in the form of lawsuits brought by lot operators claiming their property rights were being violated.

Saying he initially didn’t want to “piecemeal out different district areas,” the chair eventually accepted that certain exemptions — like those for downtown Hilo called for in written testimony — were needed.

However, he said the spirit of the bill remains the same — a long-term vision preventing Kailua Village’s parking woes from being exported into other Hawaii Island communities.

“Overall, what we’re trying to do here is prevent any future commercial paid parking,” he said. “It might exist in certain pockets in different districts of this island, but whether you’re thinking of Kohala or Pahoa or Pahala, thinking 20 years, 30 years down the line, (we’re) wanting to ensure that we require, first of all, development to have adequate parking, and that that parking be free. We don’t want to see the situation that’s happening down in Kailua-Kona happening elsewhere on the island.”

Email Stefan Verbano at stefan.verbano@hawaiitribune-herald.com.