In August, Evelyn Lane was out walking her dogs when she noticed flames rising from a grove of ironwood trees just a few hundred feet from her home.
Lane’s immediate reaction was to run, dragging her dogs along while shouting for help.
The fire was quickly tackled by firefighters who arrived on the scene, extinguishing the blaze in approximately an hour.
However, the incident ignited a series of concerns for Lane, a 67-year-old resident of Kahuku Hauoli Hale—a 64-unit affordable housing complex for seniors and people with disabilities on Oʻahu’s North Shore.
She found herself grappling with unsettling questions about the preparedness of her elderly community for such disasters.
How would residents evacuate? Where would they go? What would they take with them?
Ultimately, Lane concluded that neither she nor her neighbors were adequately prepared for emergencies.
“I don’t think the community really knows how vulnerable we’ve become,” she lamented, as she walked through Kahuku and pointed out potential hazards such as abandoned vehicles and abandoned generators.
Each of these she regarded as dangerous, potential sources of disasters.
The fire Lane witnessed symbolizes a broader trend in Hawaii where one in five residents is over the age of 65.
As global climate change continues to escalate the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, the risks for older adults multiply dramatically.
Research indicates that elderly individuals face significantly higher mortality rates during disasters—be it hurricanes, wildfires, or heatwaves.
This concern came to a heartbreaking realization during the deadly Lahaina fire, where two-thirds of the 102 known fatalities were individuals aged 60 and older.
While nursing homes in Hawaii are mandated to have disaster plans approved by the Department of Health, independent senior living facilities like Kahuku Hauoli Hale and the 34-unit Hale Mahaolu Eono in Lahaina are not subject to the same requirement.
In total, approximately 100 independent affordable senior housing complexes exist across the state, housing nearly 7,000 elderly residents.
Advocates emphasize that the unique needs of the elderly must be prioritized in disaster planning, including their mobility limitations, reliance on medical equipment, and often solitary living situations—one in five seniors on Oʻahu live alone.
“Addressing these needs is not about treating them as special compared to others,” stated Keali’i Lopez, the state director of AARP Hawaii.
“Rather, it stems from the fact that kūpuna and individuals with disabilities are significantly more likely to perish in a disaster.”
Lopez pointed out that county emergency management agencies are beginning to tackle this pressing issue.
Their efforts include working with AARP to coordinate emergency training webinars aimed at helping property managers develop suitable emergency plans involving residents.
Still, many further initiatives are necessary to ensure in-depth planning.
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” Lopez noted.
“The steps for the general public to ensure safety differ from those needed for individuals with physical or mental challenges.”
A disconcerting gap in disaster planning documentation was evident in a recent Maui County report analyzing the 2023 wildfires, which lacked sections dedicated to older individuals, those needing care, or people with disabilities.
However, the independent “Lahaina Fire Forward-Looking Report,” released the following January, did emphasize the necessity for tailored evacuation plans for vulnerable demographics, specifically noting the elderly and disabled residents who lack transportation.
Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett acknowledged the urgency of this issue, emphasizing that he personally lost a family member during the Lahaina wildfire and views community resilience as integral.
“Limited work has been done in the past related to kūpuna, signifying that a lot remains to be done to catch up and reinforce those systems,” he stated.
At this time, the agency is actively revising 23 county emergency plans that are set to be completed by the end of the year.
These updates will address safety measures for kūpuna in various housing types, including nursing homes and independent living facilities, emphasizing items such as transportation and feeding strategies for disaster victims.
Community advocates working with fire survivors have welcomed Lonokailua-Hewett’s arrival in January 2024, yet there is an understanding that the emergency plans have not been thoroughly communicated to the public.
Shannon I’i, program manager for Our Kūpuna—a service providing food and social support to seniors, many of whom are fire survivors—reported that in her recent community meetings and talks, no disaster preparedness plans addressing kūpuna have been presented.
“Maybe they are working on something without public disclosure,” she speculated, acknowledging that such a lack of transparency would be a significant concern.
Maui County spokesperson Laksmi Abraham explained that these newly initiated programs will take time to roll out effectively.
The agency has been coordinating with senior residents through events organized by multiple community groups, including Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and Maui Economic Opportunity.
In April, they even hosted an emergency preparedness expo where seniors could register for emergency and evacuation alerts.
“This has marked the beginning of doing things differently, and then we need to be able to communicate that information to the community, which requires time,” Abraham remarked.
On a broader level, the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) must extend its reach and play an instrumental role in preparing kūpuna for disasters, said state Sen. Brandon Elefante.
He has proposed a resolution requiring HI-EMA to collaborate with county agencies to formulate educational programs and outreach initiatives specifically for kūpuna regarding emergency preparedness.
Both the state Senate and House of Representatives adopted this resolution, with HI-EMA Administrator James Barros testifying in support of it.
“I think of my grandparents in their 80s and wonder what information is available to them during emergency situations,” Elefante expressed.
He noted that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure answers to these questions are accessible, followed by coordination with county agencies and community organizations.
HI-EMA faced criticism after the 2023 wildfires for not learning from individuals’ tragic deaths in a similar fire near Lahaina five years prior.
Despite these criticisms, HI-EMA’s community outreach lead, John Vierra, stated that the agency is making substantial progress in community-level disaster preparedness and learning to consider the needs of kūpuna.
Although HI-EMA does not currently have a specific disaster plan tailored for the elderly, the agency is increasingly recognizing the necessity for targeting support for kūpuna and their caregivers.
Vierra leads a six-member team dedicated to assisting communities across the state in formulating their own disaster readiness plans, building upon a statewide program called the Hawaiʻi Hazards Awareness and Resilience Program.
This program directs communities through a process of risk assessment and planning for future disasters, ultimately certifying their comprehensive planning efforts.
On Oʻahu, the agency is currently in contact with 16 communities ranging from Lāie to Nānākuli, with Waimanolo, Kapolei, and Kapolei Knolls leading the way in their disaster planning process.
Meanwhile, the Big Island, already possessing a robust emergency infrastructure, has 17 communities actively formulating disaster plans under HI-EMA and a nonprofit called Vibrant Hawaiʻi.
This coordination has given rise to 20 “resilience hubs” located in various areas of the Hawaiʻi County region.
Some hubs are tied to existing facilities, while others are purely conceptual exercises rooted in community development.
The focus of these vibrant communities has been to identify primary disaster threats, analyze demographic details, and improve communication with the county’s emergency operations center.
Advocates such as Dotty Kelly-Paddock, a member of the Koʻolauloa Neighborhood Board, have championed the concept of resilience hubs, which emerged from the Ola Plan intended to shield the state from climate change repercussions.
Five years following that initiative’s launch, however, no such hubs have materialized, though Kelly-Paddock’s nonprofit and the Hauʻula Community Association have now taken measures to secure land for a hub.
Funding remains a significant barrier, as they project a total cost of approximately $30 million for the project.
A $5.4 million federal grant awarded in 2024 is being allocated to prepare the site for construction, though previous funding commitments have fallen through, creating uncertainty around the venture.
Randal Collins, the new head of Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Management, stressed a people-first approach in efforts to establish resilience in the community, with a focus on building relationships prior to disasters.
Experts in disaster preparedness emphasize that community interactions are critical; your neighbors are often your first responders in the event of an emergency rather than professional services.
Karl Kim, executive director of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at the University of Hawaiʻi, observed that elderly individuals might be hesitant or unable to evacuate without encouragement.
For organizations like Vibrant Hawaiʻi, disaster planning for kūpuna includes integrating them as part of the broader community rather than treating them as isolated individuals needing help.
This strategy has empowered community members to develop relationships that will ultimately prove beneficial during emergencies.
Kūpuna have actively led planning efforts, offering insights ranging from managing power outages without electricity to fostering connections across generations.
For the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute’s Kupuna Collective, another avenue to bolster community support for the elderly during disasters involves creating networks of trusted individuals regularly interacting with kūpuna.
This network can rapidly mobilize during emergencies, disseminate vital information to seniors who are not online, and ensure their specific needs are met.
According to Lindsay Ilagan, the program manager for kūpuna initiatives at the health institute, governmental agencies must prioritize funding and support for community-based organizations that understand the unique vulnerabilities and strengths of their elderly populations.
In the aftermath of the fire Evelyn Lane witnessed, she decided to take charge of her own preparation efforts.
A month later, she underwent a three-day Community Emergency Response Team training to learn how to navigate disasters effectively.
In her proactive approach, she knocked on her neighbors’ doors, encouraging them to take part in similar training.
As a result, four additional residents from Kahuku Hauoli Hale have joined her in emergency preparedness training.
Lane has collaborated with the nonprofit Hui O Hauʻula to assemble emergency “go bags” containing critical items like prescription medications and essential documents for evacuation.
She is also working towards establishing a Kahuku emergency leadership program while striving to create partnerships with local institutions such as schools and health clinics that could serve as evacuation centers.
Despite her fervent outreach efforts, Lane stated that the property management group, EAH Housing, has not been supportive in planning for emergencies.
She characterized this relationship as “pretty adversarial.”
“This highlights the urgent need for assistance from the city and county,” she urged.
After expressing concerns in a meeting with the Honolulu Community Resources Department following the fire, Lane learned that EAH management was invited to subsequent meetings focused on distributing supplies and training resources but did not attend.
EAH Vice President of Real Estate Management Jon Pasion responded that the management team was not formally informed about the meetings, although they remain committed to supporting residents of Kahuku Hauoli Hale in disaster readiness initiatives.
Despite Lane’s assertions that the collaboration had not materialized thus far, Pasion noted that EAH has partnered with various agencies to engage in disaster preparedness activities throughout their properties in Hawaii.
“We’re still awaiting further support,” Lane pointedly remarked.
image source from：civilbeat
