Hawaii is still reeling from a run of costly hurricanes and storms since March, and advocates say the state is badly underinvested in preventing damage before it happens, which is bad news for homeowners, seniors, and anyone near the coast.

• An educator and hurricane-preparedness advocate says lawmakers have killed bills for years that would have given tax breaks to help people fortify their homes, arguing the problem is seen as too big to tackle.
• Simple, relatively cheap fixes exist, like metal clips connecting roofs to foundations, plus stronger materials like insulated concrete forms and hurricane-rated windows that could make homes much tougher.
• Seniors in condos were especially hard hit when storms knocked out power and elevators, stranding people on upper floors with no way down.
• A state lawmaker says the real gap isn't funding for disaster recovery, which is plentiful, but funding for prevention, and the state has only started a small pilot program to fortify senior care homes.
• Community-driven "resilience hubs," informal and formal neighbor networks that coordinate food, shelter, and check-ins during storms, are filling the gap while government funding and permanent building fixes move slowly.

Outlook: With back-to-back disasters raising pressure on lawmakers, advocates hope this becomes the turning point for funding home fortification and resilience hubs, but for now residents are being urged to build their own evacuation plans and neighbor networks rather than wait on government action.