State sending aid to Hawaii

The Texas Division of Emergency Management announced this week that the agency has deployed additional disaster recovery personnel to Hawaii to assist communities following the devastating wildfire that occurred in Maui County in August.

“TDEM is providing additional disaster recovery subject matter experts to aid Hawaiian communities as they work through the process of recovering from the destructive wildfire that occurred this summer,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd. “TDEM continues to support Hawaii, just as our state partners assist Texas in our times of need.”

At the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, TDEM has deployed the following emergency management resources to Hawaii’s State Emergency Operations Center under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Public Assistance personnel will provide direct support to impacted communities with navigating the Public Assistance Grant Program process.

Individual Assistance personnel will provide hands-on support with identifying eligibility for –and administering financial assistance programs to–individuals and households affected by the wildfires.

Disaster Finance Accounting personnel will assist with bookkeeping, supporting management of incident costs, administrative assistance, logging of personnel time, lease negotiations, and vendor contracting.

The Emergency Management Assistance Compact is a state-to-state mutual aid system that enables states to provide assistance and share resources with another state in response to a disaster or emergency.

EMAC members can share resources from all disciplines, protect personnel who deploy, and be reimbursed for mission-related costs.

For more information, visit emacweb.org