LAHAINA, Hawaii — Maude Cumming rushed to break down homes for survivors 12 days after a tornado killed 102 people and destroyed nearly 2,200 buildings in the historic town of Lahaina.
Through the Family Life Center, his Maui-based nonprofit organization, Cumming plans to build a village of 88-unit modular homes.
A year later, just 10 units remain occupied, fueling frustration in a community struggling to heal and recover amid persistent housing insecurity.
“People haven’t settled in yet,” Cumming said. “The need is real.”
Designs for the village include 16 pods, each with a private kitchen and bath, intended to reflect traditional Hawaiian living around a community center with a large lanai or open-sided veranda. Inside there is a large communal kitchen and laundry facilities.
Funded by $14 million in private donations, the village began to take shape within weeks of the fire, but construction was soon halted due to bureaucratic hurdles.
Local building codes required the project to meet commercial standards, and access to the county waterway was slowed by conservation efforts, Cumming said.
“Because it’s a disaster, we felt it might go faster than normal,” he said of the permitting process. “We had high hopes.”
Conversely, a village with a population of over 300 has less than 30 inhabitants.
A year after the deadliest wildfire in Hawaii’s history, insecurity in homes remains the biggest hurdle for survivors. A A recent study According to the Hawaii State Rural Health Association, 59% of Maui residents affected by the fires have been displaced at least three times since last August.
1 in 5 respondents said they had moved five or more times.
Cumming said she knows of families who have moved eight times because various housing programs have expired or because tensions have grown between families or friends offering places to stay.
Instability spread through the once tight-knit community, scattering families across Maui and forcing some to leave the island due to rising rents.
Short-term housing has been found for all the families who lost their homes, but long-term solutions remain a challenge because rents are so high, Gov. Josh Green’s office said.
In the days and weeks after the fire, disaster teams worked to help survivors, including thousands of people who were temporarily housed in hotels, and then coordinated with local authorities and private organizations to provide temporary housing for 13,000 displaced people.
“Survived for a year. Sophomore year is rebuilding,” Green told NBC News.
Nearly 8,000 people moved into hotel rooms in the first two weeks after the fire, and 662 survivors moved into short-term rentals, according to the state Department of Human Services.
Since then, displaced families have received assistance through rental assistance programs, transitional housing and disaster management.
The first 10 families will soon be transferred to a temporary housing scheme designed to house 1,200 people for up to five years. The Department of Human Services said 3,000 people have found shelter through a partnership with Airbnb.
As for Cumming’s project, he said he aims to have it finished within the next few months after the family life center receives a water main that will allow the modular home village to be connected to the county water line.
“I want this to be a precedent for disasters,” he said. “This is the safest. This is the one that can be thrown away in the short term. If we can accomplish that, I’d say it’s worth it.”
The program is empty while people continue to wait for housing, Green said, but “there are trade-offs when you have a crisis like this.”
“Typically, you want to do big projects that are permanent,” he said.
But Cumming said he could hear the anxiety in the voices of people who don’t know what will happen in the next two or three months.
“It’s that uncertainty that has people still on pins and needles,” he said.
Alicia Victoria Lozano Contributed.
