Nearly 1,000 families were displaced Catastrophic wildfires on Maui They are anxiously awaiting word on whether the federal aid that helps them stay housed will be left to expire, forcing them to find new housing or pay more for it in one of the most cramped and expensive rental environments in the country.
For two and a half years, Federal Emergency Management Agency It was the key to helping this population. But FEMA — facing broader efforts by the Trump administration to shrink the agency’s role and shift more responsibility to states — is set to choose in the coming weeks whether to end funding.
Evicting tenants and withdrawing financial aid will undermine progress toward restoring residents to Lahaina, the West Maui town largely destroyed by a wildfire on Aug. 8, 2023, and could lead to a new wave of homelessness and violence, advocates say. More departures From the island.
“Having them all enter an already impacted rental market in February scares me a lot,” said Nicole Huguenin, executive director and co-founder of the mutual aid organization Maui Rapid Response.
The fires in Lahaina and Kula, in rural Maui, destroyed 2,200 structures and killed 102 people. Then-President Joe Biden declared a major disaster and opened FEMA aid to help 12,000 displaced people, 89% of whom were renters at the time of the fires. His administration eventually extended the program by 18 months until February 2026.
But with few homes being rebuilt and rental inventory near zero, the state requested another extension last May with a decision to be made before the end of January.
The uncertainty comes against a backdrop of greater unrest surrounding FEMA’s future role in disaster recovery. President Donald Trump has done so often The idea of abolishing the agency was put forwardSaying that he wants countries to bear more responsibility in dealing with disasters.
While it is not clear whether this change in approach will impact the decision on housing assistance, it does impact residents.
“It’s in the hands of the current administration and I’m not sure if they like the amount of money we had to use,” said Kukui Keahi, a Lahaina fire survivor who rented an apartment through FEMA after living in her car and sitting on her couch after the fire.
If the program ends, all housing-related financial assistance for fire survivors will cease, and any units rented directly through FEMA must be vacated, according to the agency’s notice.
Maui County spokeswoman Lakshmi Abraham said the county is “working with the state and FEMA on the extension and is optimistic that the extension will be granted.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to comment.
While huge fires occurred in other states More homes were destroyedThe Maui fires created a unique crisis. The limited number of dwellings and the island’s remote location from the mainland United States made transporting survivors and rebuilding very difficult.
FEMA, state, county, and nonprofit organizations scrambled to Finding solutions to shelter displaced peopleMost were desperate to stay near Lahaina to be close to work, schools and the community.
After working with the Red Cross to house 8,000 residents in hotels and other temporary shelters in the first weeks, FEMA has slowly transitioned families to other forms of housing assistance.
It offered rent money, set up temporary shelters on burned properties, and rented out thousands of units itself to rent to survivors, although some complained of onerous eligibility requirements and requirements. Having to move several times.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers helped the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) build Kealohana, a 167-unit apartment complex on a plot of land overlooking the city of Lahaina. The huge investment required blasting hard rock to level state-owned land and installing new electricity, water and sewerage infrastructure. The first family moved in 14 months ago.
If rental assistance ends, roughly 190 families living in modular units, 470 families in the direct rental program and 280 families relying on financial assistance, will be thrust into an already strained housing market that has seen little improvement since the fires.
The rental vacancy rate on Maui is less than 2%, and as of mid-2025, there were no units available at or below what the federal government considers fair market rent, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, or HIEMA.
Displaced survivors faced rent increases of 50-60% after the fires, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. Two- and three-bedroom units still cost twice what they did before the fires.
Critics have partly blamed these increases on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) housing programs, which often rent properties at well above fair market rates to incentivize landlord participation, even though the island’s housing shortage existed before the fires.
“My goal is to (pay) back where I was before and I can’t, there’s no way,” said Keahi, a displaced resident who is also a program deputy at the Hawaii Council, a nonprofit that runs multiple recovery initiatives on Maui.
Slow recovery of Maui’s tourism-dependent economy It also limits what renters can afford.
To address supply challenges, the province passed a bill last month Prohibiting short-term rentals in properties designated for residential apartments Starting in 2029, despite strong opposition from some people concerned about the impact on tourism and jobs.
The rebuilding process is also gaining momentum, with 109 residential construction projects completed and about 300 projects underway.
“The difficult part about the island is that everything needs to be shipped,” said James Barrows, director of HIEMA.
If the extension is granted, FEMA could impose some new “milestones” for the state to meet to speed up its recovery, Barros said.
FEMA has performed long-term housing assistance missions in the past, for both large disasters like Hurricane Katrina and smaller events, depending on needs. Expansions typically depend on factors such as the availability of units and the number of families in need, as well as the progress made by both families and local governments to find alternative solutions.
Barros said the county and state have been working on contingency plans for “months” if FEMA assistance ends, including a possible takeover of Kilohana.
Adjacent to Kilohana is Ka Lai Ula, another 450-unit modular community created through a state-philanthropic partnership. Its residents do not yet pay rent, and are allowed to stay for up to five years.
Kimo Carvalho, CEO of the housing nonprofit Home Aid Hawaii, which runs Ka La’i Ola, said a Kelowhana resident recently called saying his housing might expire and asked if he could apply to Ka La’i Ola.
The community is already full, with a long waiting list, Carvalho told The Associated Press.