Shocking before-and-after photos from the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina have revealed the extent of the devastation caused by one of the most deadly American wildfires in recent history.
At least 36 people died as several fires tore across the island of Maui on Tuesday, with powerful winds from Hurricane Dora accelerating the inferno (even though the hurricane itself is passing Hawaii several hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean).
County officials said the fatalities were discovered as firefighters attempted to save Lahaina—a popular tourist destination that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Satellite imagery shows the total destruction of the Banyan Court area in Lahaina.
Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty
Satellite imagery showed that the Banyan Court area of Lahaina had been razed, including many of the town’s most iconic landmarks. Its famous banyan tree, the largest in the world, was badly charred but salvageable, KHON2 reported.
At least 271 structures were either damaged or destroyed in the flames, which grew so intense that some people were forced to flee into the ocean, later being rescued by the Coast Guard. Thousands of locals spent Tuesday night in evacuation shelters while thousands of tourists were similarly forced to take shelter as flights were grounded.
Satellite imagery shows an overview of the damage caused by the Lahaina wildfire.
Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty
Lahaina resident La Phena Davis said the blaze had left her and her hometown with nothing.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she told KITV. “There is no Lahaina left. There’s no Lahaina Harbor, no Mala Wharf. Every restaurant is burned. The Jodo Mission and the homes on Front Street are completely burned to the ground.”
In a separate interview, Davis recalled how frighteningly fast the flames reached her front door, leaving her only enough time to grab essential paperwork and run.
“It was such a black, thick smoke that we immediately just left,” she said. “We barely grabbed anything. I literally didn’t grab any clothes. I grabbed my important papers, but everything that we owned, and you know, in all my 50 years of life, is completely burnt to the ground.”
Other residents from the beachside town of 13,000 described a similarly apocalyptic scene. Ingrid Lynch told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that she thought the worst had passed on Tuesday morning when the fires destroyed her car. That night, her roommate woke her and told her they had to flee their house—which was soon on fire as well. “We didn’t know where we were going,” Lynch said. “There were flames everywhere and we didn’t know what direction to go.”
An aerial view shows wildfire smoke in Lahaina.
Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke via Facebook/via REUTERS
Taxi driver Alan Barrios, 53, also described finding himself “in the eye of the storm” as he fled Lahaina, forced to leave one of his frightened cats behind after it panicked and ran away. “Your heart is coming out of your chest, that’s all I can tell you,” he said. “You feel like you’re running out of oxygen.”
Laren Gartner, a restaurant owner on Maui, told CNN that the fires had decimated cell service, connectivity and electricity on the island, leaving thousands in the dark—likely terrified, lost, and confused.
“Lahaina looks like a bomb went off,” she said. “There is nothing left.”
Smoke billows near Lahaina.
Dustin Johnson/Handout via REUTERS
The Federal Emergency Management Agency described Maui on Thursday as having “widespread devastation.” The agency said it was struggling to assist those impacted because of the island’s relatively small size and the unpredictability of the fires, which were still far from contained on Thursday morning.
Hawaii’s tourism authority advised visitors on “non-essential travel” to leave Maui late Wednesday, additionally discouraging others from traveling into the area. Local attention and resources will instead be given to communities impacted by the fires, with tourists urged to rearrange their plans.
For tourists already in West Maui, a “mass bus evacuation” will begin on Thursday morning to take people to the Kahului Airport. Roads were gridlocked with traffic to the airport on Tuesday as thousands of tourists and locals alike attempted to escape the disaster. Late Wednesday, Southwest Airlines said it had added additional flights “to keep people and supplies moving.”
“These past few days, the resolve of our families, businesses, and visitors have been tested like never before in our lifetime,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video message late Wednesday. “With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time.”
In addition to Maui, officials said fires broke out on Big Island, but no injuries or destroyed buildings have been reported there. The true scale of the devastation may not be known for some time.
“This is not going to be a short journey,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said. “It’s going to take weeks and maybe months to assess the full damage.”
President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii early Thursday and pledged to dedicate federal resources.
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