UPDATE ON MAUI WILDFIRE
By: Kathi Zimpleman
The news from Maui continues to be one of devastation, anguish, and sorrow. There are over 115 recorded deaths. The residents of Lahaina Town have been able to return to see what is left of their homes and businesses. For most, everything they had is gone; there is nothing to recover. 80% of Lahaina Town is gone. The search for missing persons continues. There are still over 850 people not accounted for at this time. That search is taking place in the burned-out ruins of the city. Many of the missing are the incinerated corpses found in cars or what used to be their homes and businesses. Only 27 people have been positively identified so you can imagine how gruesome this job is for the recovery crews. The residents who are returning to search their property and the recovery crews are encountering toxic fumes and dust as they search. Daily household items like cleaners, batteries, and hazardous construction materials release noxious fumes into the air. There was a building material used in construction from 1930-1960 called Canec. It is a particleboard with high concentrations of arsenic that was used for termite control. The EPA is still working with local authorities to determine how to handle this toxic waste.
Amid the horror, the people who call Hawaii home continue to serve the people who need a helping hand on Maui. Donations have come in for the people on Maui from all over the world. The federal response has been rapid and essential in the recovery efforts. The non-profits on the ground are helping organize these donations with special attention to make sure the supplies are directed toward those who are in the most need. Volunteers are stepping forward to help with organization and distribution. Word of mouth has had residents picking up supplies from distribution centers and delivering to the families who need those donations. Green shoots.
The Maui Flight Academy has put together a small armada of pilots to fly supplies into the Maui West airfield, which is closer to the worst-hit areas. They have flown over 100,000 pounds of supplies ranging from diapers, flashlights, Costco chicken, water, and oil. They will continue to do that as long as there is a need, said their director, Laurence Balter. Pilots on vacation in Hawaii have stepped forward to fly supply planes and/or planes evacuating people to another island. Green shoots.
Maui Mutual Aid is a non-profit that was formed during COVID. Their mission is to find the people who have lost their identity cards and cannot access their bank. These people cannot get the cash they need to live daily. This organization will get the money distributed to those who need their help. Green shoots.
The Animal Shelter houses pets of all kinds - dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, honu. The pets belong to people who have lost their homes. The shelter expects as many as 1,000 animals to be housed there in the next few weeks. The director of the Hawaii Animal Rescue Foundation, Dawn Pfendler, said the animals will stay until their owners can take care of them again. Many volunteers have stepped forward to help care for the animals because, as Ms. Phendler says, people need the animals as much as the animals need people. Green shoots.
The larger nonprofit groups are very active on Maui. Those organizations include the Red Cross, the Maui United Way, the Maui Food Bank, the Salvation Army, World Central Kitchen, and so many others. The Hawaii Community Foundation, Maui Strong, is helping these groups move forward with rapid response and understand community needs. The Red Cross is set to close its shelters in the next few days because local hotel owners have offered 750 rooms for the residents to use free of charge. Green shoots.
Residents who have lost everything have been cautioned to be aware of speculators who will offer them money for their property. There is a very strong feeling among the native Hawaiian population about the development of their land by outsiders. It will be tempting for these victims to accept cash for what was once their home or business and is now nothing but a pile of rubble, but there is a very strong feeling among the native Hawaiians in all of these Islands. The native population believes people from the mainland who settle and develop their land have shown little or no respect for their culture or homeland. This belief has lasted for generations and is a very sensitive issue here in the Islands. Governor Green has warned developers to stay away. That request was echoed by President Biden Monday when he and the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, came to see the ruins firsthand. The President has promised that our country will stay with the residents of Maui until the restoration is completed. He added that the people of Lahaina would restore Lahaina because this is their home.
The news has reported on the controversy of the response to the wildfires and the source of those fires. The members of the rapid response teams remain heroes and will always be heroes, but for everyone’s safety, these discussions about lessons learned need to start. All of these discussions are important, and the need to change how the Rapid Response teams respond should be one of the first conversations to be had, along with what responsibility Hawaii Electric has to the citizens of Maui. Herman Andaya, the Chief of Emergency Management on Maui, has resigned. Lessons learned? Green shoots? Likely too soon to know.
Ending on a more hopeful note, there is news of the Banyan Tree. The first reports held little hope for the survival of the 150-year-old icon of Lahaina Town. However, according to Steve Nimz, an arborist who inspected the tree over the weekend, there is hope. He has found live tissue in the tree’s cambium, the layer just below the bark. Nimz describes this as a sign of recovery, and there is no reason to give up hope on the Banyan. The local arborists have formulated a daily watering program to save the tree. Green shoots!
Kathi Zimpleman’s first report from Hawaii:
MORE: President Biden’s remarks in Hawaii on Monday, August 21.
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Thank you for this piece, and for your previous dispatch. I've never visited Hawaii but have learned a lot. Rooting for that banyan!
Again, I repeat, from an earlier conversation we had; you should write a book. You are very thoughtful, wise and gifted.