An expanded disaster declaration by President Bush yesterday cleared the way for new federal assistance for Big Island homes, businesses and public facilities that suffered damage in the Oct. 15 earthquakes.

Following the expanded declaration, state and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials launched plans for disaster relief centers to begin processing requests for federal help.

FEMA and county officials hope to have three or more disaster relief centers operating on the Big Island as early as Thursday to allow residents who suffered damage to register with the federal government and coordinate with state and county officials for other types of relief.

However, homeowners who suffered damage in the earthquakes may be disappointed at the restrictions on the assistance available, and the dollar limits, said Patrick Kidder, FEMA division supervisor for the Big Island.

The maximum FEMA will provide for temporary repairs is about $5,000, and homeowners also can qualify for up to $200,000 in low-interest Small Business Administration loans to make repairs to primary dwellings.

For those who do not qualify for those loans, FEMA may provide up to about $25,000 if those residents suffered major damage or destroyed residences, he said.

FEMA will not pay to repair or replace second homes, and will not finance repairs to portions of homes such as collapsed carports that are not essential to make the homes livable, Kidder said.

"If your garage fell off the side, forget it, you're not going to get it for that," he said. For households that suffered that kind of peripheral damage, "I think they're going to be disappointed, based on my experience."

Gov. Linda Lingle on Saturday requested that FEMA expand the types of federal assistance available on the Big Island, citing the most recent estimates that damage to schools, roads, businesses and other public facilities — including Kawaihae Harbor— totaled more than $100 million.

That doesn't include the FEMA tally of damage to residences, which found 10 homes were destroyed, 153 suffered major damage and 1,484 had minor damage from the Oct. 15 magnitude 6.7 and 6.0 earthquakes centered off the west coast of the Big Island.

FEMA tallied another 241 homes "affected" by the quakes, meaning they need some repairs.

FEMA ended its count of damaged homes on Saturday afternoon, which means there may be more damage that has been reported but is not included in the official tally.

Big Island building inspectors have "red-tagged" 50 homes, churches and one historical site so far. That means the facilities were damaged so severely that they cannot be occupied.

County inspectors identified another 128 homes that have received yellow tags, meaning portions of those homes are unusable. Those include homes where a carport has collapsed or a garage has been severely damaged, but the rest of the house is still usable, said Jiro Sumada, deputy chief engineer for the county Department of Public Works.

PATCHING RESERVOIRS

Sumada said the largest numbers of damaged homes were in Kona, Kapa'au in North Kohala, and Waimea in South Kohala.

In a new report of damage that is not included in the official tally, Big Island Department of Water Supply manager Milton Pavao estimated that repairs to two Waimea reservoirs damaged in the earthquakes could cost as much as $2 million.

While exact estimates have not yet been made, "I can assure you, it will be expensive," Pavao said yesterday.

Water officials had drained one reservoir and partially drained the second damaged structure into a county water treatment plant yesterday morning. Pavao said the reservoirs do not pose a threat to Waimea residents living about a mile and a half downslope from the structures.

There are no restrictions on water use in effect for the Waimea area because a 50-million-gallon third reservoir remains intact, he said.

Water supply officials and state engineers found the reservoir leaks last week during post-earthquake inspections, Pavao said.

Initial reports suggested the walls of the reservoirs had cracked in the earthquakes, but Pavao said he believes the leaks probably are coming from rubber-like construction joints that are between the 20-foot concrete panels that make up the dams.

Pavao said engineers expect to do additional inspections of the damage today.

Waikoloa Reservoir No. 2 was drained and is to be repaired first. Waikoloa No. 1 was draining yesterday into the department's water treatment plant.

The water emerging from the treatment plant can be stored in a 4-million-gallon "clear water reservoir," which holds enough water to supply Waimea for about two days at normal usage, Pavao said.

"As long as the weather stays the same where we have our share of rainfall and the stream inflow into our system is OK, we don't anticipate problems," he said. "We will get problems, however, if the weather patterns dry up."

Pavao said the leak in Waikoloa No. 1 stopped after the reservoir was half drained, and a federal Bureau of Reclamation inspector determined the structure does not pose any threat. Water officials planned to keep the water level at that reservoir at 17 feet, or about two feet below level of the leak, which allows about 25 million gallons to be stored in the structure.

EXPEDITING REPAIRS

The Big Island County Council has scheduled a meeting today to consider granting special powers to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim to speed the earthquake recovery effort.

The county code already allows the owners of damaged homes to begin emergency repair work immediately, and seek building permits later.

Under the emergency ordinance the council will consider today, the county would also waive building permit fees for reconstruction work.

The county last week suspended processing of all building permits to free up inspectors and engineers to respond to requests from homeowners who are worried about damage to their homes and want an inspection to be sure the structures are safe.

Sumada said four engineers from Honolulu arrived on the Big Island yesterday "to help transition back to normal building permit processing and building inspections."

The Honolulu staff are checking damaged homes, which allowed county officials to recall building, electrical and plumbing inspectors to resume processing of normal building permit applications.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.