Economic toll of Hawaii wildfires could climb to $16 billion

The toll of the Maui wildfires has been devastating. In addition to a death toll that keeps rising, they’ve caused billions of dollars in damage not only to physical infrastructure on the island, but also to the future of Maui’s economy. FEMA, the Red Cross and volunteer organizations are providing emergency aid, and President Joe Biden has asked Congress for $12 billion to refill the nearly empty Disaster Relief Fund. On the ground, residents on Maui are grappling with just how much they’ve lost.

Katie Folio helps run a network of occupational and physical therapy clinics on Maui, including one in Lāhainā, the town that was almost completely wiped out by the fires. 

“We thought that the clinic was gone,” she said. “We’d heard that Island Grocery was burned down. And that’s right next door to us.”

But miraculously the clinic still stands. One building surrounded by the charred remains of other structures. 

“There’s nothing around it, it’s going to be tough to go back,” said Folio. “It’s gonna be tougher… It’s just gonna be tough.” 

Like many businesses, the Lāhainā clinic is on hold as the whole community deals with tragedy. And in the meantime, Folio said staff are scrambling to support clients who’ve lost everything. They helped one family replace a child’s specialized wheelchair that burned in the fire. 

“We are already on Maui, short of resources, especially, for pediatrics and for kids and health care,” she said. “And so, I worry about what the future holds.”

Her clinic and other Maui businesses may not know the full measure of the losses for a while. But the economic damage from Hawaii’s wildfires could be as high as $16 billion, according to Accuweather, which estimates the total economic toll of climate disasters. 

“We look at things like job and wage losses, crops, infrastructure damage, interruption to supply chain, business losses, flight cancellations and delays,” said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist with AccuWeather.

Porter said there’s also the damage to resident’s mental and physical health. 

“We had all types of smoke, lots of dangerous particulate matter, lofted into the air that people were breathing,” he said.

And of course there’s tourism — one of the top sources of income for Hawaii’s economy, which was just recovering from the pandemic. 

“There’s no question. This will definitely exacerbate an already challenging situation,” said Micah Kāne, CEO and president of the Hawaii Community Foundation which has raised more than more than $27 million to provide aid to victims of the fires.

He’s grateful for the outpouring of support. But he also said it is hard to see this emergency eclipse years of progress on important local economic issues. 

“Prior to the disaster organization was heavily involved in attempting to to get more affordable housing built within Maui County,” Kāne said.

But for now, he said, what people need is emergency shelter, and help getting back on their feet.