HILO, Hawai'i — Disaster relief officials suspect some residents of North Kohala are refusing to report damage from the Oct. 15 earthquakes because they fear their homes might be condemned, or worry that government might mandate expensive repairs.

Troy Kindred, Big Island civil defense administrator, said the damage observed by relief workers in the field doesn't seem to match the limited reports of damage trickling in through official channels.

That has led some experts to speculate North Kohala residents may not be reporting the true extent of the harm done by the quakes, he said.

Amber Armstrong, a Kohala Middle School teacher who has lived in Kapa'au for the past five years, said some of her neighbors are afraid to make reports.

"There's so many old people here, the older, older people, who aren't reporting damage because they're afraid they're going to be told that they can't stay in their house," she said. "They don't want to move, and there's nowhere to move to anyway.

"They just don't want to be told that they have to leave their house."

Kindred said disaster relief workers plan to meet with Kohala residents on Saturday at a community gathering at the Kohala Intergenerational Center in Kapa'au to reassure them that "the goal here is not to hurt the community. The goal here is to help the community."

"In Kohala we know, because we've been there, that there is significant damage, yet the numbers of reported damage are low," he said. "We're concerned that some of the residents might feel that if they come in and report, we're going to come in and say 'Hey, that house doesn't meet the standard, you have to get out.'"

HOMES 'TAGGED'

County inspectors have inspected 1,030 Big Island buildings, and "red-tagged" 62 homes and churches, meaning they cannot be occupied until major repairs are made. The type of damage that would trigger a red tag includes a structure that shifts off its foundation, raising the possibility of a collapse, or has walls that are separated from the roof.

County inspectors also have issued another 151 yellow tags, meaning portions of those homes cannot be used until repaired.

The Red Cross, which has been tallying damage independently of the county inspectors, has counted 40 homes that were destroyed, and 215 that suffered major damage, according to Maria Lutz, director of disaster services with Red Cross in Hawai'i.

The magnitude 6.7 and 6.0 earthquakes on Oct. 15 did more than $100 million in damage to roads, schools, businesses and government facilities.

The North Kohala area suffered some of the most extensive damage. One of the most memorable images from the earthquakes was the collapsed stone walls of North Kohala's Kalahikiola Congregational Church.

Kindred said he has heard second- and third-hand accounts that "some people are really a little reluctant to step forward because they're afraid, maybe they can't live in their house, and they don't have the resources to go someplace else."

"We want to make sure that they understand that the intent is not to deny them a place to live, or to kick them out of their house," he said. "It's just to make sure they're safe."

CESSPOOL CONCERNS

Gov. Linda Lingle said on a visit to the Big Island last week that some North Kohala residents told her they were worried that if they reported their cesspools collapsed in the earthquakes, they might be required to replace the damaged wastewater systems with more expensive septic tanks.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim assured Lingle that people who report damage will not be forced to upgrade to septic systems. "We're bureaucrats, but we're not stupid," Kim told Lingle.

Meanwhile, Kindred said civil defense officials have selected sites in Waimea and Kona for disaster relief centers, where residents can report damage and register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a first step in the process of seeking federal disaster relief. The centers will be at the Waimea YMCA and at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa in Kona.

DISASTER RELIEF SITES

The Kona and Waimea sites are expected to open tomorrow. FEMA officials will remain at those sites for at least two weeks, and county and state officials will be there at least five days, possibly longer if needed, he said.

However, a similar disaster relief center for North Kohala, at the North Kohala Senior Center, will not open until Wednesday. The delay in opening that site is meant to give county and federal officials time to reassure Kohala residents at the Saturday meeting about the disaster relief effort.

If there is under-reporting of earthquake damage in North Kohala, House Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine offered another possible explanation.

Takamine, D-1st (North Hilo, Hamakua, N. Kohala), said that the community still has a small-town feel, with roots in the plantation era when everyone had to depend on their neighbors to help in an emergency.

"What I've seen happen time and time again is, rather than waiting for a handout, they'll organize themselves and fix what needs fixing," Takamine said.

PITCHING IN FOR REPAIRS

Armstrong, 37, said every one of the posts and piers supporting her home broke in the earthquake, but the repairs are already about half complete. Armstrong was on Maui when the earthquake hit, but her daughter's boyfriend immediately went to her house and stabilized the structure.

"He redeemed my hope in kids," Armstrong said. "That was a really nice thing to do, because his own house fell down, too. It fell off the piers altogether.

"He worked all day fixing his house, and then came to my house and worked all night," she said. A neighbor who is also the uncle of one of Armstrong's students has also pitched in, she said.

The county issued a yellow tag to Armstrong limiting her use of the property, but "once he put some of the piers on the front of the house, I don't feel as scared that it's going to topple over," she said. "There was a point there where if we would have had one good shake, it would have gone down."

Armstrong has been buying materials with her credit card, and estimated the repairs will cost her $4,000 to $5,000. She said she hopes she will get some government assistance "because I don't want to pay 20 percent interest."

Kindred said authorities are still trying to determine if another disaster relief center is needed in the Hamakua area, which also suffered significant damage.

"We don't want them to have to drive forever to get to a place, they've already suffered enough impact from this."

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.