Ready for hurricane season? Study says Hawaii residents should be more prepared

HONOLULU (KHON2) — With less than one week until hurricane season, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency urges residents to stay prepared.

The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Whether the season is above-average or below-average, officials said, you can never be prepared enough for a natural disaster.

HIEMA Administrator James Barros joined WakeUp2Day to share how prepared the state of Hawaii is, address concerns about FEMA with the uncertainties at the federal level and what folks can do at home to prepare.

“I will never be satisfied on the level for preparedness for the state and for the citizens. We can always do things a little bit better and we should continue to improve our levels of preparedness,” Barros said.

He added that HIEMA has improved in multiple areas in comparison to 2024, such as connectivity between the counties and state departments.

When it comes to FEMA, Barros said HIEMA is anticipating two things: staffing shortages and financial assistance.

“We anticipate that it’s not gonna be at the same levels that we saw in August 2023 and that does concern us. So we need to posture ourselves financially so that the next disaster, we could absorb that cost,” he explained.

And for residents looking to prepare ahead of time, Barros strongly recommends preparing a go bag.

“We need to understand what kind of threats and hazards we face.We live on an island. So the hazards are there, the threat to us is real.”