Where does Maui go from here?
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2023
⏱️ 22 minutes
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Summary
Last week, the worst wildfire in Hawaii’s history left blocks of charred wreckage and more than a hundred people dead. Now, while locals wait for news of loved ones, they’re also fighting to keep historic Lahaina in the hands of the Hawaiian people.
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Hawaii has one of the most intense housing crunches in the country, with sky-high property values, soaring costs of living and a colonial history that is still felt across the islands. Nowhere was that crunch more visible than historic Lahaina, the former Hawaiian capital, where longtime residents fought to keep their ancestral homes out of the hands of developers.
That was all before a devastating fire ripped through west Maui, destroying thousands of homes and leveling neighborhoods. A little more than a week after the blaze, authorities are still sifting through the ash and accounting for the missing. Residents have banded together to fill gaps they say have been left by the state and federal disaster response. And they’re turning an eye to the future, amid fears that this disaster could drive longtime residents out of Maui.
How to help or donate to Hawaii residents displaced by Maui wildfires.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before last week's devastating wildfires, this is what it sounded like to be in West |
| 0:14.6 | Maui. |
| 0:19.7 | Families swimming at Canoe Beach in Hanakoa Park. |
| 0:23.1 | Tourists walking along Front Street in Lahaina Town, parents dropping off kids at Kameha |
| 0:28.8 | Elementary School. |
| 0:33.6 | This is what I saw the last time I was here. |
| 0:36.2 | I come often to visit friends and last year I brought my recorder with me. |
| 0:40.8 | I was reporting about a controversial proposal to address beach erosion in a popular tourist |
| 0:46.8 | area. |
| 0:48.4 | But it seemed like that conflict was actually about something bigger, about what this place |
| 0:53.2 | means and who is Maui for. |
| 0:56.0 | I've lived here all my life, my parents, my grandparents. |
| 1:01.5 | Back then I talked to Paul Hanatta, a fisherman and free diver who cares deeply about the ocean. |
| 1:07.5 | Months ago I asked him about this question while sitting in a park. |
| 1:11.9 | Maui is for people that really respect the island and respect each other. |
| 1:17.6 | There are a lot of people that come only for money for themselves and they really don't |
| 1:29.0 | care about anything else, the environment or other people or they have to learn something |
| 1:34.8 | and I think it's our responsibility to teach them. |
| 1:43.3 | Maui is a place where tourism is big business and the cost of living is high. |
| 1:48.1 | I spoke with Iokepa Niole, a native Hawaiian who is a cultural tour guide in West Maui where |
| 1:53.8 | he takes visitors out on canoes and tells them about the history of these places. |
| 1:59.6 | He talked about tourism and the island's economy. |
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