ASPR’s Response to the Kona Low Weather Event in Hawaii
New and Notable
Advancing Access to Health Care Through Increased Flexibility
On April 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE for the state of Hawaii to address the health impacts caused by recent severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides. The declaration follows President Trump’s emergency declaration and gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
HHS has waived sanctions and penalties for violations of certain provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule against hospitals in the emergency areas. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a bulletin explaining how limited waivers apply and the duration.
Strengthening Community Resilience with Behavioral Health Support
The HHS emPOWER program is available to identify the number of Medicare beneficiaries in affected zips codes who rely on electricity-dependent durable medical equipment and certain healthcare services, such as dialysis, oxygen tank, or home health. The tool is used to help anticipate, plan for, and respond to the needs of at-risk individuals in potentially impacted areas.
Strengthening Community Resilience with Behavioral Health Support
The HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers free crisis counseling through the Disaster Distress Helpline. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.
To connect with a trained counselor, call or text 1-800-985-5990. Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. Callers also can connect with counselors in more than 100 other languages via third-party interpretation services by indicating their preferred language to the responding counselor.
Technical Assistance
We encourage communities in all typhoon prone areas to use ASPR TRACIE's resources to plan to protect health.
