Schatz anticipates federal disaster declaration for Hawaii within days following Lala

News admin August 19, 2026 0 Comments

Schatz anticipates federal disaster declaration for Hawaii within days following Lala

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A federal disaster declaration is expected within the next day or two to support recovery efforts from Lala, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said during an appearance on “Spotlight Now” Tuesday.

The tropical cyclone passed south of the islands first as a hurricane, then a tropical storm, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain across the state this weekend.

Schatz said state and local officials are currently conducting damage assessments to determine the exact resources and relief required.

Once the assessments are complete, Gov. Josh Green is expected to send a formal letter to the White House requesting a major disaster declaration from the president.

“That process, I anticipate, will be underway within the next day or two once the damage assessments are done,” Schatz said, noting he and the governor are already in close communication with federal cabinet secretaries.

Communication delays and long-term resilience efforts

Local officials are currently working to acquire Starlink satellite internet systems to address ongoing communication and cell service outages, especially in the Kaʻū District of Hawaiʻi Island, Schatz said.

He noted that areas without power and road access are expected to experience continued connectivity delays.

Schatz, a long-time environmental advocate, warned that Hurricane Lala and recent Kona low storms are evidence that severe weather is worsening and occurring more frequently. He stated that federal support must focus not only on recovery but on long-term climate resilience, which will require Hawaiʻi to adapt how residents live.

“The federal government is going to have to come to the table and help not just on the recovery side, but on the resilience side,” Schatz said. “We’re gonna have to do a retreat of some of our highways, and roads, and we’re doing that on the west side of Maui now with federal funds and state funds.”

Proposed legislation to restrict social media for kids

Schatz also discussed several pieces of federal legislation he is working on, including a bill that would restrict social media access for children.

The proposed measure would ban the use of social media platforms for children under the age of 13. For teenagers between 13 and 18, the bill would ban platforms from using algorithmic boosting to curate user feeds.

“There is no use case, positive use case for a 9-year-old to be on TikTok,” Schatz said.

As for teens, “they can be on social, but it’ll be a lot more like old Facebook,” Schatz explained. “The people you see on your feed are the people you decided to follow.”

UH reports minimal storm damage, faces federal funding cuts

University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel reported that UH campuses sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Lala, limited to downed trees and some flooding.

As the new academic year begins, the university is navigating a 29% decline in federal funding, which resulted in a loss of approximately $110 million in grants.

Despite the cuts, Hensel noted that UH finished with its second-highest year ever in research funding — generating over $600 million — as administrators pivot to find alternative sources of support.

“There is just no way that private philanthropy can fill that hole unless you’re talking about a multibillionaire,” she said.

Hensel also reaffirmed UH’s commitment as a Native Hawaiian place of learning despite federal scrutiny of DEI initiatives.

“We are both trying to be as collaborative and cooperative as possible in the spaces where we can collaborate, but also know where the line is that we won’t cross in terms of university policy and our commitments to our people,” Hensel said.

Housing waitlists, Mountain West move, and new analytics

To address a projected decline in high school graduates, UH is expanding its “Direct2UH” automatic admission program to include UH Mānoa this semester. The university is also focusing on AI integration, developing a free “AI for Hawaiʻi” training course for the community.

Addressing other campus priorities, Hensel noted a waitlist of approximately 1,000 students for campus housing. She also clarified that she will personally oversee the Division I athletics department during UH’s move into the Mountain West conference, noting its statewide economic impact.

Additionally, UH is launching an analytics system this semester using 10 years of data to identify early warning signs when students begin to struggle academically.

“By using analytics, we can identify early warning signs and trigger an intervention to ensure that we can say, ‘Hey, we care, come on in, let’s solve this problem now,’” Hensel said.