As the storm reasserted itself in Central Oʻahu and the south shore, Gov. Josh Green joined Mayor Rick Blangiardi at a press conference Monday to announce he’s asking the federal government to pay 90% of the cost to remedy extensive damage caused by back-to-back Kona low systems. 

Waialua and Haleʻiwa saw some of the worst effects, with thousands of Oʻahu’s North Shore residents left slogging through mud to clean up their flooded homes. Road damage included a sinkhole that opened on Monday near Makapuʻu and required the closure of Kalanianaʻole Highway. On Monday, Green said Kula Hospital on Maui will need to be replaced and would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars. 

“That’s a big lift,” he said. 

Green estimated the damage from the Kona low storms would amount to at least $1 billion last week, and that number is sure to rise. In addition to the hospital, he said $40 million of roads will need to be replaced, $100 million will need to be spent on airport repairs and hundreds of millions of dollars will go toward rebuilding houses. 

Many people were caught off guard by the rain on Monday, which once again exceeded predictions. Deep in Pālolo Valley, a river of water rushed out of a manhole and down Carlos Long Street as neighbors recorded the scene with their cell phones. About half a dozen neighbors tried to slow the flow.

“I went and I bought sand,” said resident John Merryman, who wanted to block the river from jumping the curb and entering his house. 

That flooding added two more Oʻahu schools, Noelani Elementary and Hōkūlani Elementary, to the growing list closed because of flooding and campus repairs. The two Mānoa schools will be closed on Tuesday. Three Waialua and Haleʻiwa campuses will also remain closed most of the week and will reopen on Friday, the education department said in a press release.

The department previously announced that it would close three Kona schools on the Big Island this week, and Konawaena High School will transition to online learning at the end of the month as the campus faces more extensive repairs.

To help make a case for federal assistance, the city launched a portal for reporting residential flood damage and plans to aggregate that data.

“We share that with the state and we also share that with FEMA,” Department of Emergency Management Director Randal Collins said, “and that is all part of trying to tell the story of what has happened here so that we can get that presidential declaration.” 

Because the natural disaster is ongoing, Green said, a full damage assessment has not been completed. “We’re seeing the damage in a rolling fashion,” he said. 

Cleanup will add a lot of debris to the island’s rapidly filling municipal landfill, Department of Environmental Services director Roger Babcock said. To help, the city is bringing in a mainland debris removal company that it keeps on retainer for large-scale disasters. Babcock said to his knowledge this is the first time the city has had to take this step. 

“We want to divert as much material as we can from the landfill,” he said. “So that is what this company specializes in.” 

Officials advised everyone to avoid infection by staying out of the floodwater and not swimming in the ocean. In addition, everyone between Mokulēʻia and Turtle Bay who uses water from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply should boil their water for at least three minutes before drinking it or brushing their teeth with it, BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau said. 

The city’s upcoming fiscal year budget is being reviewed and Honolulu Managing Director Mike Formby said the mayor’s team will ask the City Council to adjust it for repairs and cleanup. 

Blangiardi said the city will provide relief to people by reducing property taxes for those whose homes were damaged, discounting water bills for North Shore customers and removing tipping fees for dropping off solid waste and permit fees for emergency repair work. People can begin emergency repair work and apply for a permit the next business day, Department of Planning and Permitting Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said after the press conference.

Civil Beat reporter Megan Tagami contributed to this report.