HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After the Kona Low storms swept through Oahu’s Leeward Coast, many residents are still living with the aftermath of homes damaged, belongings lost, and recovery far from complete.
More than a month later, residents say they’re still working to recover.
For Maili resident Jesus Pina, the storm’s impact caused him to lose about $50,000 to $60,000.
“Just cleaning it all the time, like I said, it was a pain,” Pina said. “It took over a month. I’m still doing things right now. Cleaning out all my tool room, my house because it smells. There’s mold, there’s mold in there.”
On top of repairing mold and water damage, Pina is also working hard to clean out the dirt and debris swept in by the flooding.
“The water was already almost 12 inches inside the house, full of mud and all kinds of debris, leaves and stuff like that,” Pina said.
Pina says he pumped out roughly 600 gallons of water between his house and his beloved 1962 Chevrolet Impala.
The daunting task took hours with the use of his shop vac.
Recently, he discovered more water inside the trunk of his classic car.
“It was full of mold, and so they’re going to have to work on that,” Pina said. “That’s going to cost, probably cost over $40,000.”
Next door, on Paakea Road, Masina Wond remembers the moment floodwaters quickly rose in her Maili home.
“The sandbags were over here, and they told me to step up on it,” Wond said. “So I stepped up on it, and I stepped down, and the water was knee-high.”
She says the flood left her family with extensive losses, including her children’s beds, clothing, and several household appliances.
“We’re still moving stuff from our neighbor’s house next door to over here because some of our stuff is over there,” Wond said. “And we’re still trying to get things, like dressers and stuff, so that we could put our clothes in and whatnot.”
She says upcoming family milestones for her son have also been affected.
“I had vacation days that was supposed to be for the week that he graduates. I had to switch it. I had to switch my vacation days to the day of, the week of, the flood. What a way to spend my vacation,” Wond said.
City leaders say they’re looking at three main funding sources to support storm recovery and long-term infrastructure needs across Oahu.
“These funds are very important because we don’t know the quantity, but they’re going to be significant,” said Honolulu City Councilmember Andria Tupola. “Secondly, there is a resilience fund that the city made, and that funding is going to be determined amongst the agencies that are helping DEM, ENV, DFM. And then thirdly, we do have a climate change resiliency fund.”
Councilmembers say they’re also pushing for more public input, as discussions continue on how recovery funding should be prioritized moving forward.
“So one third of 1% of all property taxes goes towards that,” Tupola said. “So that’s an ongoing fund of which we have about 9 million in the fund right now. And every year, it’ll generate around the same. So those three pockets of funding, we’re really asking the administration to work with us on it because we want to know that all three pockets of funding are addressing storm issues, stream cleaning, drainage, infrastructure.”
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
