STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1321

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.C.R. No. 175

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 175 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE REGARDING THE STATUS OF THE 2004 FLOOD DAMAGE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the University of Hawaii (UH) to provide a report to the State Legislature regarding the status of the 2004 flood damage, including final damages, responses, future plans, and final costs.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the UH.

On October 30, 2004, a flash flood ripped through the Manoa area. The flood water cascaded through the University of Hawaii’s Manoa Campus, damaging over twenty buildings on campus, including the Biomedical Sciences Building, Hamilton Library, the Art Building-Bilger and Keller Halls, the parking structure, and Klum Gym.

In all, power was interrupted to thirty-five buildings. Agricultural Sciences III, Biomedical Sciences, Sherman Lab, and Hamilton Library sustained enough infrastructure damage to require isolation from the main electrical circuits before the rest of the campus could be powered up again.

Your Committee finds that the UH is working diligently to obtain financial assistance from the federal, state, and private sectors to cover the costs of this immense undertaking. However, the state insurance policy has only $25,000,000 in coverage, which even when fully paid will not be adequate to cover the total cost of the damage, restoration, and reconstruction.

Your Committee further finds that the calculated estimation of the damage to the Manoa campus infrastructure is between $80,000,000 – $100,000,000 and some of the devastation destroyed includes irreplaceable historical documents that can never be replaced.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 175 and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

		____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair