Liberty

LAHAINA – A West Maui Community Disaster Planning Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 15, in the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater at 5:30 p.m.

Guest speakers will be Michele Liberty, Maui County director and Disaster Program director of the U.S. Red Cross Hawaii State Chapter, presenting on the topic “Emergency Sheltering in Maui,” and Charnan Carroll, disaster preparedness specialist at the Maui County Emergency Management Agency, presenting on the topic “Personal Preparedness Planning.”

West Maui Taxpayers Association is working with the Maui Emergency Management Agency, The Pacific Disaster Center, and the State Emergency Management Agency to develop a customized disaster plan designed to meet West Maui’s specific needs.

Isolation from the island’s major hospital and airport, due to frequent road closures, fires and flooding, have highlighted the need for special preparedness planning.

The Hawaiian Hazards and Resilience Program (HHARP) is a series of monthly workshops, presented by subject matter experts, to provide education for hazard understanding and offer tools and information resources to guide community mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery planning.

Meetings are also scheduled for July 20 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater and Aug. 17 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Lahaina Civic Center’s Main Hall.

Additional meetings will be announced.

These meetings are free and open to the public. There is ample parking for the amphitheatre on the lot by the district courthouse adjacent to the entry gate.

West Maui Taxpayers Association invites everyone to join in and be part of the solution. These plans may well be the reason why lives will be saved when disasters strike.

More information on WMTA and disaster preparedness can be found at www.westmaui.org.