WAIMEA — As Big Island residents continued to clean up yesterday and catalog damage from Sunday's quakes, many homeowners were shocked to discover their insurance won't cover the damage.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said he personally fielded at least 100 complaints from property owners who hadn't realized they aren't covered, and wanted to know why the government didn't warn them.

With the island's long history of severe temblors, earthquake coverage has been unavailable or prohibitively expensive for many years. Now, hardly any Big Island homes are covered for earthquake damage.

"I don't blame them for being mad in regards to this, but I think this is typical of every disaster that we have," including flooding from storm surge, he said. "When they find out their home insurance doesn't cover it, they get very angry."

Kim said he expects state and county officials will complete their report to the Federal Emergency Management Agency by today as part of a request for an expanded disaster proclamation from President Bush to clear the way for more federal assistance.

Kim said FEMA teams on the Big Island have already begun verifying reports of damage, and said he expects FEMA will make additional checks over the next few days before making a recommendation to the president.

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, adjutant general and head of state Civil Defense, said yesterday that 1,130 homes sustained minor damage in Sunday's earthquakes, and 29 homes sustained such major damage that they can't be occupied. As of late yesterday afternoon, Big Island officials had "red tagged" or condemned 16 homes.

Those 16 severely damaged homes are spread across the western and northern parts of the island, including Kapa'au on North Kohala, Waikoloa, North Kona, Kawaihae and Pa'auilo on the Hamakua Coast.

One of the condemned homes belonged to 84-year-old Mabel Gomes, who was alone in her Pa'auilo house Sunday morning when it began to shake. "She was trying to come out of the house, but the house was shaking so bad she was flopping around," said Gomes' son, Domingo.

Mabel Gomes was unhurt, but the house she had lived in since she was a young bride can't be salvaged, Domingo Gomes said.

CAN'T BE SAVED

The 100-year-old structure started out about 5 feet from the edge of a gulch before the earthquake, but shifted about 14 inches, and a chunk of earth slumped off into the gulch. The house was left perched on unstable earth at the edge of a 50-foot drop into the gulch, with stress cracks running right up to the structure, he said.

Domingo Gomes, who lives in another house on the same property, was working yesterday to disconnect the gas water heater and move his mother's possessions out of the home.

"What I'm afraid of is if it starts raining hard, the ground gets heavy when it gets wet, and then it might give," he said. "One day I'm just gonna have to tear 'em down. Sad, because the house is over 100 years old. The outside is old plantation, but it's a pretty nice house on the inside."

Gomes said he plans to add a small room on to his house because his mother wants to return to the property. He hoped to finish the room in a few months, and expected the authorities also will provide some disaster assistance. "It seems like they gonna help her, but take time, eh?" he said.

In the meantime, Gomes has to salvage what he can and also cope with a sunken cesspool.

In Waimea yesterday, several residents with quake damage to their homes said they hoped federal aid will expand so they might get help with repairs.

Chris Kawakami, who makes 'ukelele and other string instruments, and his wife, Kathy, a biologist, were stuck in bed for the first quake on Sunday and did not find out until later that a diagonal brace had ruptured through the floor underneath.

"We didn't realize at first that our entire house had moved about 1 1/2 feet to the south," he said, pointing at the gap.

The house, which Kawakami built 18 years ago, has tilted toward the right, but a contractor believes it can be saved.

"This was certainly unexpected. But it could have been a lot worse," he said.

WAITING FOR HELP

Robert Correia, a carpenter, said his fireplace blew from the wall after the quake and many of his belongings were trashed. He said his insurance company has told him that his coverage likely only protects him from structural damage.

"I'd like to see if we can get some help," he said. "I mean, I don't have any dishes. I'm not sure people realize how it is."

Steve Cusumano, a retired Honolulu police sergeant, and his wife, Jo-Ann, who works in consumer sales for Hawaiian Telcom, are waiting for county inspectors to assess whether their home has suffered structural damage.

A stove shifted after the quake, and Cusumano forced the stove pipe back into place temporarily. "I pushed it back in myself for aesthetic reasons, but we're waiting for the inspection to see if everything is OK," he said.

Other homeowners seeking inspections yesterday morning overwhelmed county civil defense telephone lines, prompting county officials to put in place plans to open new phone lines for reporting damage. Some callers unable to get through to civil-defense officials complained about the busy phone lines at Kim's offices.

Public-works officials estimate that 500 homeowners have asked the county to inspect their homes to determine if they are safe, and the county has completed about 160 inspections.

County Civil Defense Director Troy Kindred said, "We've had in the hundreds of calls from people who have sustained damage to their homes." He added, "The dilemma is balancing trying to get that information, and maintaining a certain number of lines for someone who has an emergency response requirement."

Damage assessment teams with the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and county agencies yesterday morning continued to catalog damage, civil defense officials said.

Kindred said disaster workers were again trying to find and help any residents who might have been left isolated by the earthquake, and unable to get help.

"We want to make sure we're not missing anyone in the community that may be at home and may not be able to get out, either special needs or disabilities or family member or the elderly who haven't shown up," he said. Kindred noted that he is unaware of any instances in which people had to be rescued.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com and Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.