(NewsNation) — It’s been more than three months since the deadly Hawaii wildfires swept through Lahaina, and there’s “almost no chance” of impacted residents being able to move back into their homes, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told “The Hill on NewsNation.”
Green said 3,700 homes were destroyed, and only a few houses survived the fires that rapidly spread Aug. 8. In the aftermath, Hawaii faces a unique issue in its response. The governor explained there were 561 impacted families that both owned and lived on their properties — everyone else was renting.
“We’re in discussions to get a large number of the short-term rentals converted to long-term rentals. And my hope is that we will also construct over 1,000 small units like alternative dwelling units to help house people long-term,” Green said. “We have to build housing because no matter what, we’re short on inventory.”
Since rebuilding will be a lengthy process, Green wants to eventually help people return to their land by possibly handing out permits for people to build temporary structures.
“What we hope is that once we remove the debris, as long as the toxins are minimal, that we begin to give people permits to put temporary structures back on some of their land until they can build their homes completely,” Green said.
He continued: “When you see this kind of devastation, rebuilding an entire town will take a long time. And that has to be kind of with the blessing of the people of Lahaina, and we’re just not there yet.”
While Green tries to tackle urgent housing issues, he is also looking to the future. The governor said he intends to request a tax revenue increase, possibly through travel taxes, to create a fire mitigation budget.
“We lost 100 beautiful people and $5 billion of property because a fire was able to roll through with a big storm. And so that’s going to happen everywhere if we’re not careful,” Green said.
Maui had a housing shortage before the wildfire that has since been amplified. West Maui opened back up for tourism on Nov. 1.