Ok, so Puna is “affordable” Hawaii. IOW, it is where a LOT of people live. There is one road in (and out). And it was devastated by Tropical Storm Iselle. Today, August 12, 5 days after the storm, nearly 10,000 people are still without electricity. And water. And phone service (land or cell).
And the news outlets…..are pretty much ignoring the whole situation. God forbid that anything might impact the tourist trade, you know. Our governor (who was just defeated by a landslide in his re-election bid……) has not yet declared a disaster, meaning that FEMA cannot come in to help.
There is a great need for water, ice, personal supplies, batteries….and even towels for the people who can get to the community pool which is offering free showers and cell-phone recharging.
I know most of you cannot send water, ice or toothpaste.
Please consider a donation: http://www.hiunitedway.org/iselle/
Help Puna
Aug 12, 2014
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Chele, Thanks for posting this. We live in Hawaiian Beaches in Puna. Today, 25 days after the hurricane, Hawaiian Telcom finally got us hooked up to internet and phone services. Still waiting on cable. Electricity took 12 days. We think our property must have had the most damage in Hawaiian Beaches but it mostly occurred in the back yard – 30 to 40 trees from the uncleared lots behind us and next to us all ended up on our property. It took the county 10 days to check on us and FEMA never came at all. Thankfully, we have property insurance and enough resources to get back on our feet, but others in HPP and Nanawale have not been so fortunate. The media and the county civil defense have whitewashed the entire thing, though.
Marcy Brinkley (formerly of CLC)
Marcy, The entire “whitewashing” was shameful. My only assumption is that Abercrombie and Kenoi didn’t want any negative publicity that might impact tourism! I’m glad to hear you are back “online” and pray for the continued recovery of Puna!
Cheers, chele
Marcy, the entire “whitewashing” of the storm effects is shameful. Surely Abercrombie and Kenoi were hoping to sweep it all under the rug to avoid any negative effect on tourism. I’m glad to hear you and Jeff are back “online” and we pray for the continued recover of Puna.