More than 150 people attended the meeting in Kihei Tuesday to discuss flood recovery from the rain-laden storms in March. Some criticized the county for failing to plan in advance. Gary Kubota/The Maui News

More than 150 people attended a meeting in South Maui on Tuesday focusing on recovery efforts after two powerful March storms brought record-breaking rain and turned some roads into rivers.

While county officials came ready to discuss recovery plans, some Kihei residents were critical of what they described as a lack of preparation before the storms.

Kihei resident Paula Westfal, whose house was flooded along with her neighbors’ homes, said she sent emails in December expressing concerns about the driveway at the nearby Hale Liloa senior housing project facing her home. Westfal said she was worried that if it rained and water flowed onto the driveway, it would cross the road and there was no curb to redirect it.

She said a county inspector came out to check the issue, but she didn’t receive a response.

“I told them if there was heavy rain, all of this goes into my house and my neighbor’s house,” she said.

Kym Ferrari, who lives at the Kauhale Makai condominium, said Maui County cleared drainage areas for most shoreline properties so floodwaters could empty into the ocean.

But Ferrari said no one cleared the ditch at her condominium, and it began backing up into the parking lot, damaging vehicles that needed to be towed away.

“It wasn’t addressed,” Ferrari said. “The mud from the wetlands is higher than my driveway.”

Kai Nishiki said her family’s Farmer’s Market Maui in Kihei was impacted by the flood, as has happened in the past, and she hopes the county will consider reducing flooding by purchasing 30 acres of nearby vacant land.

She said the land, mauka of the Kihei Canoe Club and Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, could be developed into a flood mitigation area to help protect downhill businesses and condominiums.

“We would love to assist the county in advocating that,” she said. “We’re having flooding and coastal impacts and rising water tables and we don’t what happened in Florida to happen here.”

Nishiki suggested the county should help reduce dust and stabilize runoff sediment by hydro-mulching, and she praised Mayor Richard Bissen’s administration and Maui contractors for helping in the recovery.

Bissen said his administration is willing to take the blame for all the things that people pointed out were the administration’s fault.

“But let’s just give some credit to Mother Nature, doing whatever she’s going to do. She’s always going to win. I just want to put that out there as perspective,” he said.

Bissen said the county is also dealing with flooding in areas where developers built on wetlands.

“I’m not able to point fingers, accuse anybody over what was allowed back in the day when those places were built, but of course, we’re trying to reverse that,” he said.

Bissen also said rain patterns have changed.

“I can tell you for sure we’re getting more water in a short amount of time,” he said.

Maui Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Kono Davis encourages storm victims to document the damages by taking photographs, keeping receipts for repairs and filling out a form available at mauirecovers.org that can help the county apply for federal relief funds. Gary Kubota/The Maui News

Kono Davis, deputy administrator for the Maui Emergency Management Agency, encouraged those affected by the flooding to document damage with photographs, keep receipts for repairs and file reports at mauirecovers.org by April 10.

Officials said the collective documentation of damages will help in the county’s efforts to seek funding for disaster relief and the potential for reimbursing flood victims.

State health administrator Lorrin Pang also urged people to take precautions during cleanup because leptospirosis bacteria are prevalent in Maui floodwaters and mud.

He said the public should avoid cuts and scrapes that could lead to infections and seek medical help if experiencing fever and body aches.

The county has provided a plan for segregating and bagging flood waste, including locations for disposing of appliances and hazardous waste.

The county is providing roll-off services in South Maui for the pickup of green waste by appointment only.

Officials said they are seeking funding for road repairs and the North-South collector road, scheduled to go out to bid in 2027, which could serve as an alternative route.

The county said volunteer cleanup teams are available to help elderly residents, along with support services such as mental health and housing.