(ETA: Damaging) Wildfires in Hawaii, too :(

[aurora]

Raging wildfires in Hawaii force people into the ocean

www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/09/hawaii-wildfires-maui-lahaina-dora/


Sounds like there are fires on several islands and it's hard to know the full extent right now due to very high winds.

[pixy0stix]

This is insane.

[carriebear822]

My husband works for Kaiser and he said that they believe the Kaiser clinic hospital in Lahaina has burned down.

Edit: It wasn't a hospital but a clinic.

[chedifuen]

How utterly devastating for the locals. I'm just sick reading the news.

I have a trip there coming up in October. I highly doubt it will happen.

[abs]

Whoa. Just saw pictures. The title here doesn’t do justice. Horrible!!

[gretchenindisguise]

Oh man. This is devastating.

[redheadk]

Aug 9, 2023 11:15:20 GMT -5 carriebear822 said:

My husband works for Kaiser and he said that they believe the Kaiser hospital in Lahaina has burned down.

This made me gasp. This is devastating for the island. 

[underwaterrhymes]

This is devastating.

[carriebear822]

Aug 9, 2023 12:37:33 GMT -5 redheadk said:

Aug 9, 2023 11:15:20 GMT -5 carriebear822 said:

My husband works for Kaiser and he said that they believe the Kaiser hospital in Lahaina has burned down.

This made me gasp. This is devastating for the island. 

I agree and I really hope that it isn't true. 

They are evacuating burn victims to Oahu right now.

[underwaterrhymes]

If you have plans to visit Maui (or really any other Hawaiian island) any time in the near future, you should cancel them. People who have lost everything will need places to stay. Native Hawaiians have been asking tourists not to come for awhile now and now more than ever people need to listen.

[Scout'sHonor]

We were on Oahu last week and they've had multiple brushfires pop up close to the pineapple and coffee fields. One closed a main road we'd been on just the day before. The locals we talked to said it's been ~5 degrees warmer than usual.

[noodleoo]

Aug 9, 2023 12:51:18 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

If you have plans to visit Maui (or really any other Hawaiian island) any time in the near future, you should cancel them. People who have lost everything will need places to stay. Native Hawaiians have been asking tourists not to come for awhile now and now more than ever people need to listen.

Wow, the images are devastating.  How awful. 

CNN is reporting that 1800 travelers are taking shelter at the airport on Maui due to canceled flights, some of them sleeping on the ground.  So yeah, I'd cancel.  Imagine not knowing what is going on and landing into that kind of chaos?

www.cnn.com/us/live-news/maui-wildfires-08-09-23/h_f7c5ce2725affbab87965e25eb773d24

[al dente]

Malika Dudley (@malikadudley) is a local meteorologist located on Maui that I follow. She gives a lot of updates, but she's been evacuated. Today is suppose to be the last day of the red flag warning, so I hope no more fires break out and they're able to get it under control! There was a small brush fire on my way hope yesterday that I'm glad they were able to get under control.

[aurora]

Aug 9, 2023 11:34:17 GMT -5 abs said:

Whoa. Just saw pictures. The title here doesn’t do justice. Horrible!!

I'm sorry. "Wildfire" is such a trigger word to me already that I didn't stop to think it might not capture the true impact.

[abs]

Aug 9, 2023 13:41:49 GMT -5 aurora said:

Aug 9, 2023 11:34:17 GMT -5 abs said:

Whoa. Just saw pictures. The title here doesn’t do justice. Horrible!!

I'm sorry. "Wildfire" is such a trigger word to me already that I didn't stop to think it might not capture the true impact.

Oh not a dig at all. I totally get it. I have major weather PTSD so I totally understand. It was more of a comment on my own initial reaction! We have wildfires here right now as well but not like that. Just heartbreaking.

[Jalapeñomel]

Aug 9, 2023 12:51:18 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

If you have plans to visit Maui (or really any other Hawaiian island) any time in the near future, you should cancel them. People who have lost everything will need places to stay. Native Hawaiians have been asking tourists not to come for awhile now and now more than ever people need to listen.

Yes please! I said this before and got a lot of push back, but now more than ever.

[Velar Fricative]

I hope everyone there remains safe. How devastating.

[litasail]

We spent quite a bit of time in Lahaina last year. I'm so sad for them.

[penguingrrl]

How horrible, I’m so sorry to hear.

[minzy]

Horrible. One of my first thoughts when I saw Lahaina was hit (after concern over the people) was the fate of that ginormous banyan tree. From what I’m googling it looks like it’s gone. 😢

[starlily]

I've been in touch with a couple of friends who live on the island. Thankfully, they're fine, but one described Lahaina as "in ashes" which is just so sad. We had spent a lot of our time over there on our last visit to Maui

We actually do have tickets to fly out there in 2 months, for the specific purpose of visiting one of those close friends and celebrating his milestone birthday. We're going to wait and see I guess. They're local and native, so we'll take our direction from them.

[jlt19]

My good friend literally just flew out of Maui yesterday, completely clueless this was about to happen. They got home at 2am to a million alerts and messages. They are obviously relieved they were able to make it home, but have a lot of other emotions going on too.

[goldengirlz]

This is devastating. I have fond memories of Lahaina (as I’m sure most people who’ve visited do.)

Climate change is only going exacerbate existing inequalities. Tourists and snowbirds can fly home, but natives have to literally sift through the ashes. It’s already very hard to find affordable housing on the islands. It’s really awful.

For a short period, we were going to Hawaii every year because we loved it so much, but since covid, it doesn’t feel responsible to go anymore (and we don’t have the excuse of visiting friends or family), so we’ve stopped.

[Velar Fricative]

Senator Schatz said on Twitter that Lahaina is almost totally burnt to the ground. Just devastating.

[abs]

I am so sad. Maui is one of my favorite places on earth. Seeing that Lahaina is basically destroyed is heartbreaking.

[rootbeerfloat]

A few options for donations:
Hawaii Community Foundation
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
Maui Food Bank
Maui Humane Society

[bimbi284]

Another fundraiser:
secure.actblue.com/donate/kokuamaui

[bimbi284]

[ellipses84]

It’s so awful. I have a couple friends from high school and college who are from Maui (but went to school on the mainland and moved back). I haven’t heard from them. I’m hoping they are ok and just don’t have phone service in the chaos. Having lived through losing everything in a climate change related natural disaster. I know how devastating it is and wildfires like this scare me so much more than what we went through. I sometimes feel like a crazy person warning people how bad things are going to get.

Eta: Right after I posted I found out the one who lives in Lahaina is safe. Not sure about their house. The other one lives further from Lahaina so hopefully ok.

ETA: Both my friends and their families are safe. I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether the one in Lahaina lost her home (and I don’t know if they know, communication is difficult right now). They’ve both had extended family lose their homes but I only have their Venmos right now for donations and they are directly helping with displaced people.

[Jalapeñomel]

The pictures this morning are just absolutely devastating.