A House committee has sent an inquiry to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell asking for details about how assistance programs have been implemented following the fire in Maui, Hawaii.
The disaster in Maui, which began on Aug. 8, led to widespread devastation, particularly in Lahaina. In response, President Joe Biden swiftly approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) on Aug. 9, followed by the issuance of a federal major disaster declaration on Aug. 10, as the event is one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history, with 115 confirmed fatalities and many still missing as of early September.
“More than one thousand Federal personnel deployed to assist in the response efforts to this devastating fire,” the committee members wrote in the letter to Ms. Criswell. “Considering the large and extended Federal response effort, the Committee will continue to monitor the allocation and effectiveness of Federal resources. This includes investigating concerns that arise with the use of federal resources and assets during and after response and recovery efforts.
“For example, even as the fires in Maui were still burning, reports raised serious concerns related to alerting residents of the danger, evacuations from vulnerable areas, and access to resources, including water, to fight the fire. Additionally, questions were raised related to the housing of FEMA and other Federal personnel, including the location of housing and cost to the taxpayer.”
The committee members asserted in their letter that their primary aim is to assess the efficiency and appropriateness of federal disaster assistance programs and ensure that taxpayer resources are being utilized effectively to assist survivors. The committee’s inquiry highlights several pressing concerns that have arisen during the ongoing response and recovery efforts.
The lawmakers also pointed out that while the responsibility for disaster response primarily rests with the state governor, FEMA provides funding and assistance to support state-level efforts.
The committee members said they hope to scrutinize how Hawaii leveraged FEMA’s resources for preparedness, mitigation, and response and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs in the context of the Maui disaster.
The committee posed 15 questions to the agency, including how it determines the appropriate resources to award to disaster areas and how the funds are disbursed to survivors.
Additionally, inquiries from the committee delve into specific issues, including the number of individuals and families receiving assistance, the challenges in providing permanent housing solutions, the use of federal funds for housing, the efficiency of alert systems, and FEMA’s funding for mitigation and resiliency programs in Hawaii.
‘Federal Response Seems Very Delayed’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) indicated on Aug. 23 that he likely has enough questions about the Maui fire to investigate the government’s response to the fire.“We saw the devastation that happened in Maui,” Mr. McCarthy said at the time during a briefing in Syracuse, New York. “I’m very concerned about the response. We still have hundreds of individuals that are missing. I think there’s going to have to be a congressional investigation into the response of what happens.”
The lawmaker questioned how as many as a thousand people could remain unaccounted for weeks after the fire and said, “The federal response seems very delayed.
