Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 35, Number 9, 1 September 2018 — Kalo farmers receive flood assistance [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kalo farmers receive flood assistance

By KaWai Ola Staff Kaua'i kalo farmers who are facing losses after April's catastrophic flooding have received Ananeial assistance from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. W aipā Foundation, whieh receives grant funding from OHA, facilitated the distribution of disaster relief checks to kalo farmers at its site in Hanalei in August. Hanalei farmers produce most of the wetland kalo in Hawai'i, but the devastating deluge on Kaua'i's north shore smothered taro patches with mud and silt, whieh could impact the loeal kalo supply this year. The $50,000 OHA earmarked for kalo farmers is in addition to the $200,000 that OHA set aside for flood-ravaged households - 58 Native Hawaiian households received disaster relief aid in June. For information on OHA's Kaua'i disaster relief programs, please visit www.oha.org/kauai or contact the OHA Kaua'i Community Outreach Center at (808) 241-3390 or email info@oha.org. ■

Kaua'i kalo farmers still recovering from April's devastating floods received financial assistance from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Aug. 3. - Photo: Lea Weldon/Wāipa Foundation