Flood victims get direction at disaster recovery center

Some are frustrated by advice to seek loans to handle cleaning up

Shelly Emoto wanted to know who was going to remove the dirt that settled around her parents' home after the floodwaters drained.

Allen Farinas was trying to find out if the state can clean up the damage to his apartment building's ground-floor storage lockers and laundry room.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM CLOSED BEACHES The state Health Department has posted warning signs at the following areas due to water contamination. The signs are expected to remain posted throughout the Easter holiday weekend: » Kaelepulu Stream » Bellows Field Beach » Waimanalo Beach Park » Ala Wai Canal » Ala Wai Yacht Harbor » Ala Wai Channel » Kaneohe Beach Park » Kokokahi Beach Park In addition, the city Department of Parks and Recreation said Bellows Field Beach will remain closed throughout the weekend. Permit holders will not be allowed to camp in the park.

And John Kalima was trying to find help to shore up his father's property to prevent his home from sliding down the hill or getting buried in a landslide.

They were among dozens of families seeking answers at the Disaster Assistance Recovery Center yesterday. The center was set up at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Moiliili.

Many of the residents were victims of the torrential rains that pounded Oahu on March 31, and some of them walked away pleased with the assistance and advice they received. Others went away as frustrated as they were before they walked in.

Emoto's parents' home on Kalauokalani Way is near the Hawai'i Convention Center. The heavy rains flooded the entire street. The home is built raised above ground level and escaped major damage, but the waters turned the home into an island.

"It was all mud. Now it's just dirt and it's blowing everywhere," Emoto said.

The Kalima home is in Maunalaha, downslope of Round Top Drive. Kalima said the land usually drains well, but the rains saturated the ground, causing part of the home's foundation to sink. It also left a landslide behind the home.

"I don't think it was the state or city and county's fault. It was just an act of God," he said.

Kalima said he was pleased with the advice he received on how to get a low-interest loan from the state to shore up his father's property.

Getting a loan is what Kimberly Owen is trying to avoid, but that was the advice she got.

"That was something I could have gone to on my own," Owen said. "I don't think it was any help at all."

Owen said a foot of water flooded her home on 17th Avenue. She did not have flood insurance because she did not think it was necessary, living in Kaimuki.

The association of apartment owners of 1330 Wilder Ave. also does not have flood insurance because the building is not in a flood zone, resident manager Allen Farinas said.

He went to the center hoping to find someone to take responsibility for the damage to the building's ground-floor storage lockers and laundry room caused when the Kewalo Canal behind the building overflowed its banks.

Instead, he encountered "just people pointing fingers, go here, go there, go there. Everyone's the same: You need to get a loan, borrow money."

The state will set up another assistance center today at Waimanalo District Park, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.