The County of Hawai‘i will begin accepting applications for the first of three phases of the Kīlauea Disaster Recovery Voluntary Housing Buyout Program (VHBP) on April 30. Phase 1 addresses properties that were used as a primary residence at the time of the 2018 eruption. Eligible properties for the VHBP must have been impacted by the disaster, whether by inundation or isolation, damage by fires caused by lava, or secondary effects of volcanic activity, such as heating or gases. Applicants must have owned the property at the time of the eruption. Phasing is based on use of the property at the time of the eruption. Late applications will be processed during subsequent phases. Time between each phase’s application period will be used by staff to process applications and submit buyout offers to qualifying applicants.