Aloha ,
Thank you to all of you who have reached out, worried about me and sent prayers to Maui.
I am safe, my partner Eric is safe, and our home is intact.
We feel lucky and extremely grateful. Eric was off-island when the fires began (he left several weeks ago to work on emptying his home in Washington to prepare to sell it). I was on island and keeping in touch with friends who lived closer
to fires than we. Several friends were told to evacuate, many more lost power and water (which still has not been restored).
Maui will never be the same. This is the greatest
natural disaster Hawaii has ever seen.
The photo above (credit Javier Cantellops) shows a view of Lahaina, the town on the west side of Maui that was completely destroyed. It
looks like a war zone... I've shared a few other pictures below. I don't know who to credit for them as they've been circling on my Maui sites and feeds.
There was no warning. Many folks had to quickly abandon their cars and ran towards the ocean to escape the fire. Boats picked up many. Others may have drowned. We just don't know. Many people are still missing or unaccounted for (700 is the last count I saw). It's difficult to know if people are okay or not because power and cell service and 911 is out on the west side of the island.
So please continue to send prayers.
Understandably, the news has focused mainly on the
devastation of Lahaina town, as this was the area most impacted. However, there were 4-5 different areas where fires were burning on the island of Maui all at once. The winds from Hurricane Dora (about 500 miles off the coast of Hawaiian islands) made the fires difficult to control and spread fast.
Our home is in Pukalani, which is considered upcountry Maui (see Map below). There were several fires burning just up the mountain from us, friends' homes threatened and many had to evacuate. We were very lucky! If the fires had started in the fields below our home, the winds would have pushed the fires up to our town. As it was, the winds pushed the fire and
smoke away from our home. We were also blessed to keep our power and water on throughout the disaster. Many of our friends up country are still without power and water.
At odd
moments, it will hit me and I feel this overwhelming sense of sadness. For Maui, for the aina (the land) and for the lives, places and traditions lost.
I also feel exhausted
and am having trouble focusing. I'm responding to texts, emails, and social media messages letting concerned folks know I'm ok. This is very heavy for all of us who call Maui home.
I am on mainland now, in Seattle (for the time being). I flew out of Maui on Wednesday evening. I heard many stories from tourists in the airport and on the plane. So many who were staying on the west side of the island (near Lahaina) said they didn't know what was going on. Without power and without cell service there were not able to see the news or know what to do.
One family on my flight left their hotel room to get food (since the power was out) and then could not get back to their hotel due to the spreading of the fire and roads being closed. They slept in their van, six of them...2 kids, parents and grandparents. They found
a way out taking the back road out of west Maui. They left the island with only the clothes on their backs. They didn't even have their car or house keys and the grandparents didn't have their IDs. All their personal belongings were left in the hotel room as they thought they would be back after eating. They looked exhausted and weren't even sure how they were able to get on the plane without the IDs. They didn't have cell phone chargers and others on the plane lent them
theirs.
They were lucky they got a flight out. And I'm lucky I flew out then as well, because there are so many people trying to leave Maui now and many more stuck in shelters
or with no home and no where to live or work.
The map (last picture below) shows all the buildings that were destroyed. These were people's homes and businesses and places
they worked. This is worse than Covid. At least after Covid, folks had jobs to go back to and they had homes to live in. It will literally take years to rebuild Lahaina and it will never be the same.
I know many of you want to help and Maui needs it!
There are many organizations helping with funding efforts. One I learned about
through a friend is KaKo'o Maui and they will match donated funds. [You can donate here]
A little history (shared from KaKo'o Maui's website):
While national outlets report on Lahaina as a tourist destination, it was so much more than that. Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i for 25
years and home to the sacred Moku‘ula, the piko (center) of the Kingdom and the burial home to many of our ali‘i (chiefs). The loss of any ʻāina (land) is deeply felt by our community, but the destruction we’ve seen in Lahaina will be a scar felt for generations to come.
Your generosity will not only help them rebuild but also show the strength of our unity and aloha spirit. 100% of
the proceeds will go to Maui organizations to support relief efforts.
