Slammed by Storms and Hurricanes, Hawaii Small Businesses Ask Tourists to Return with Aloha and some Patience
Small businesses say prolonged cancellations are forcing layoffs and closures as officials urge visitors to spend locally and help recovery.
- On Thursday, Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami announced that Kauai is "welcoming visitors back," urging tourists to "come with patience, spend local, and help us recover" as the island rebuilds from Hurricane Lowell.
- Following Hurricane Lowell's September 7 landfall, officials initially requested tourists avoid Kauai to keep roads clear for aid delivery to more than 3,000 households still lacking power.
- Local businesses are struggling: Kristal Scott of Kauai Juice Co. has sales down 85% and laid off half her 45 employees, while Cadena Ragsdale of Kauai Fresh Fish cut seven of her eight staff members.
- Kelly Kakalia of The Musubi Truck distributes free meals through her "Feed Our Keiki" program, which now serves a double purpose: feeding kids while supporting her struggling business and keeping workers employed.
- Recovery will take "months of cleanup, debris hauling and rehabilitation," said Will Lydgate of Lydgate Farms, where about 1,500 cacao trees were destroyed during the storm.
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The Independent
The Independent (US)Hurricane-ravaged island asks tourists to return with aloha and patience
Small business owners worry too long a pause in tourism will inflict economic havoc, forcing more layoffs and financial gaps too large to recover from
9NEWS Denver
Slammed by storms and hurricanes, Hawaii small businesses ask tourists to return with aloha and some patience
Small businesses are grateful tourists have given the island time to recover, but they now fear too long of a pause could put them out of work.
Kauai small businesses ask tourists to return after Hurricane Lowell,
Watching her staff happily hand out free meals for hundreds of residents outside their Wailua commercial kitchen, food truck co-owner Kelly Kakalia felt fulfilled. It was the day after Hurricane Lowell finished knocking out power, washing out
Kauai small businesses ask tourists to return after Hurricane Lowell, with aloha and some patience - Regional Media News
Watching her staff happily hand out free meals for hundreds of residents outside their Wailua commercial kitchen, food truck co-owner Kelly Kakalia felt fulfilled. It was the day after Hurricane Lowell finished knocking out power, washing out roads and felling trees across Kauai, and Kakalia [...]
Kauai small businesses ask tourists to return after Hurricane Lowell, with aloha and some patience – WTOP News
Watching her staff happily hand out free meals for hundreds of residents outside their Wailua commercial kitchen, food truck co-owner Kelly Kakalia felt fulfilled. It was the day after Hurricane Lowell finished knocking out power, washing out roads and felling trees across Kauai, and Kakalia was focused on her community, not sales. The island where...
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