Aug 9, 2023, 12:30 pm
Last edit by: FlyinHawaiian
Maui County Statement on Leisure Travel to Maui Island [August 24, 2023]
VISITORS TO MAUI
For malihini, or visitors, to Maui please refrain from visiting West Maui or Kula. We greatly appreciate your understanding as we allocate appropriate resources toward recovery efforts for these affected communities. This includes: Lahaina, Napili, Kaʻanapali, Kapalua, Kahana, Kula, and Honokawai. Other areas of Maui remain open and welcome to visitors.
https://www.mauicounty.gov/
For those wishing to donate to recovery efforts:
HOW TO AVOID DONATION SCAMS
Hawaii State Attorney General Anne Lopez is urging people to use caution when choosing where to send money and donations to help communities affected by the Maui wildfires.
“I know that the people of Hawaii will come to the aid of our families, neighbors and communities. We are already seeing various fundraising efforts being promoted on social media platforms and online. In moments of crisis, we all must be extra vigilant against bad actors who try to take advantage of people’s goodwill.”
Advice from the state Department of the Attorney General includes:
>> Choose trusted, well-known charities. Beware of scammers who create fake charities during natural disasters. Always verify a charity’s legitimacy through its official website. If someone is fundraising on behalf of a charity you are familiar with, the best practice is to donate directly to that charity.
>> Verify that the charity is legitimate. Any charity that solicits donations in Hawaii must be registered with the Department of the Attorney General, and its status can be verified at charity.ehawaii.gov/charity/search.html.
>> Use independent online sources. Verify that a charity is legitimate:
Alaska Airlines - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post35484982
United Airlines - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...10-2023-a.html
VISITORS TO MAUI
For malihini, or visitors, to Maui please refrain from visiting West Maui or Kula. We greatly appreciate your understanding as we allocate appropriate resources toward recovery efforts for these affected communities. This includes: Lahaina, Napili, Kaʻanapali, Kapalua, Kahana, Kula, and Honokawai. Other areas of Maui remain open and welcome to visitors.
https://www.mauicounty.gov/
For those wishing to donate to recovery efforts:
HOW TO AVOID DONATION SCAMS
Hawaii State Attorney General Anne Lopez is urging people to use caution when choosing where to send money and donations to help communities affected by the Maui wildfires.
“I know that the people of Hawaii will come to the aid of our families, neighbors and communities. We are already seeing various fundraising efforts being promoted on social media platforms and online. In moments of crisis, we all must be extra vigilant against bad actors who try to take advantage of people’s goodwill.”
Advice from the state Department of the Attorney General includes:
>> Choose trusted, well-known charities. Beware of scammers who create fake charities during natural disasters. Always verify a charity’s legitimacy through its official website. If someone is fundraising on behalf of a charity you are familiar with, the best practice is to donate directly to that charity.
>> Verify that the charity is legitimate. Any charity that solicits donations in Hawaii must be registered with the Department of the Attorney General, and its status can be verified at charity.ehawaii.gov/charity/search.html.
>> Use independent online sources. Verify that a charity is legitimate:
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search: apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
- Charity Navigator: charitynavigator.org/
- State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs business search: hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/search.html
Alaska Airlines - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...l#post35484982
United Airlines - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...10-2023-a.html
Large Brush Fires Impacting Maui and Hawaii Islands (August 8, 2023)
Aug 10, 2023, 7:54 am
#61
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Aug 10, 2023, 8:27 am
#62
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Truly sad to see. Our company has a management conference scheduled for Feb. 2024 at the Grand Wailea. It will be interesting to see how Maui bounces back from this devastating event. As someone who lives and works in fire country here in Central Oregon, we are all too familiar with wildfires. 36 dead is just mind bogglingly sad. Prayers to the families.
Aug 10, 2023, 8:39 am
#63
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Aug 10, 2023, 9:38 am
#65
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Aug 10, 2023, 9:50 am
#66
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I remember being stuck on the Tasman Peninsula during a rather quick and nasty flare-up in 2013. We drove out in a rental car in the morning for a boat tour of the national park. I remember seeing what appeared to be a controlled brush fire on the way out from Hobart, but thought nothing of it. When we got back from the boat tour, we were being told to evacuate south on the peninsula (away from the only road off of the peninsula). As the day pressed on, they kept telling us to go further south. Realizing that we were running out of places to evacuate to as the entire peninsula (and the only road out) was already off-limits was quite distressing. They set up an evacuation center in a school in town, but that building was completely surrounded by forest. I decided to pass on that and hang out near the marina/beach, as fleeing into the sea was starting to feel like the best option. Fortunately, we were able to escape on a boat to Hobart just past midnight, after abandoning the rental car and grabbing our bags. I believe they managed to get the fire under control before it consumed the entire peninsula, but it was certainly a harrowing couple of days for the residents. Fires in landlocked places can be scary, but when you start running out of land to flee to, it becomes even more dire; and Maui is a even more remote than the Tasman Peninsula.
Aug 10, 2023, 10:35 am
#67
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Truly sad to see. Our company has a management conference scheduled for Feb. 2024 at the Grand Wailea. It will be interesting to see how Maui bounces back from this devastating event. As someone who lives and works in fire country here in Central Oregon, we are all too familiar with wildfires. 36 dead is just mind bogglingly sad. Prayers to the families.
Aug 10, 2023, 11:30 am
#68
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No useless thoughts and prayers but definitely my sympathy as we in California are all too familiar with destructive wildfires.
Agreed. As was the case with hurricane damage in Mexico etc, I would expect the island will need at least a couple of months to clean up and get infrastructure up and running again. So IMO it makes sense to postpone any visits prior to October. That said the Maui economy is heavily dependent on tourism, so I expect they will welcome back visitors as soon as feasible, and definitely by the holiday season. Maui is not Puerto Rico, the recovery will be fast and efficient.
I agree. There are two decision timelines to be discussed.
1) if your vacation is coming up within the next few weeks, and especially if you were scheduled to stay in west Maui, cancel now and make other plans. With the caveat from the reports above that if you were scheduled to stay in one of the areas unaffected by the fires (Wailea for example), you might still wait a few days for more info to come out.
2) if your vacation is in September or beyond, give it at least a few days before making any changes. Maybe start thinking of alternatives, but don't make any rash decisions.
Either way, give the good people of Maui time to mourn their losses and figure out what has really happened. Your vacation, while important to you, is nothing compared to these people's lives and livelihoods.
1) if your vacation is coming up within the next few weeks, and especially if you were scheduled to stay in west Maui, cancel now and make other plans. With the caveat from the reports above that if you were scheduled to stay in one of the areas unaffected by the fires (Wailea for example), you might still wait a few days for more info to come out.
2) if your vacation is in September or beyond, give it at least a few days before making any changes. Maybe start thinking of alternatives, but don't make any rash decisions.
Either way, give the good people of Maui time to mourn their losses and figure out what has really happened. Your vacation, while important to you, is nothing compared to these people's lives and livelihoods.
Aug 10, 2023, 11:33 am
#69
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from a geography standpoint, if the bulk of the loss is centered on Lahaina, it would probably impact Kaanapali and Kapalua more than Wailea, but I’m sure there are connections.
Last edited by socalterp; Aug 10, 2023 at 11:57 am
Aug 10, 2023, 11:47 am
#70
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I once ran into one of my favorite servers from the Andaz Maui doing some supermarket shopping along with his partner at the Whole Foods in Kahului. Lahaina is much further away than Kahului.
Aug 10, 2023, 11:58 am
#71
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Yeah if you're a service sector worker, even without the Pali highway frequently closing, Lahaina to Wailea is a hike, and you're probably looking for something in Kapalua or Ka'anapali just from a gas economics standpoint.
TBS, things will be stressed island-wide, a LOT of folks are going to have their Uncles and Aunties sleeping on the sofa all over the island. Pack extra aloha...
TBS, things will be stressed island-wide, a LOT of folks are going to have their Uncles and Aunties sleeping on the sofa all over the island. Pack extra aloha...
Aug 10, 2023, 12:03 pm
#72
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As people have said, it’s not all of Maui that has been affected. Issue is, a lot of reports tend to describe the event as being Maui or Hawaii, and people get confused of the entire state or entirety of Maui being affected. The Tourism Board and news outlet need to be much clearer on what is open on Maui so businesses can continue.
Hawaii reconstruction is painlessly slow and doubt we will see the affected area come back till 5-10 years. We are talking about a state who cannot even finish paving a less than one mile section of road in 1-2 years and permitting to approve remodeling is comically slow of close to a year.
Hawaii reconstruction is painlessly slow and doubt we will see the affected area come back till 5-10 years. We are talking about a state who cannot even finish paving a less than one mile section of road in 1-2 years and permitting to approve remodeling is comically slow of close to a year.
Aug 10, 2023, 12:28 pm
#73
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It is slow not just because of the administration but the practical aspects of building on a small island 2500 miles from the west coast. Reference was made to PRico (and yes they have their issues) but that is a lot closer to resources
why do you think so much of the housing on Maui is made of wood?
the irony is that it looked like the only plane that left on time yesterday was the Prime jet - and you can’t even get Amazon Prime on Maui. Stuff that takes 1-2 days to deliver on the mainland will take 2 weeks (and I don’t think they ship anything above a certain weight- I recall about 50 lbs)?
the port can barely handle one cruise ship and a container ship at the same time?
maybe some of those who list their homes can move into the $4m condos that are going up in wailea.
also, not just Lahaina (which got hit the hardest) but kula (where Oprah has a place).
the fires are still burning and my friend who lives in Kihei is very worried about the fires approaching her house
these are also the very reasons why people love maui so much
why do you think so much of the housing on Maui is made of wood?
the irony is that it looked like the only plane that left on time yesterday was the Prime jet - and you can’t even get Amazon Prime on Maui. Stuff that takes 1-2 days to deliver on the mainland will take 2 weeks (and I don’t think they ship anything above a certain weight- I recall about 50 lbs)?
the port can barely handle one cruise ship and a container ship at the same time?
maybe some of those who list their homes can move into the $4m condos that are going up in wailea.
also, not just Lahaina (which got hit the hardest) but kula (where Oprah has a place).
the fires are still burning and my friend who lives in Kihei is very worried about the fires approaching her house
these are also the very reasons why people love maui so much
Aug 10, 2023, 12:32 pm
#74
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Any news on the Mona Kea fire? I am hoping no news is good news there. Having already lost a house to fire in the CA fires of 2017 I don't want to lose my Big Island home. Well south of Mona Kea but on the Kahala Coast so still concerned. I was there a couple weeks back and a lot of dry brush predominantly east of 19. I can't see fire extending far to the west of the hwy but after watch what happened in Maui I guess anything is possible.
Aug 10, 2023, 12:54 pm
#75
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I got out of Lāhainā about 6 hours before the big fire flared up. The night before, I was listening to the wind howling outside of our place in Kā‘anapali and warned my parents about the lack of redundancy in the infrastructure to the west side: one main road, one power transmission line, etc. They're going to have to do something about this, ideally by building a northern power transmission line and highway, and creating a full bypass to the Honoapi‘ilani Highway all the way to Ma‘alaea. Power went out at around 5:30 am and apparently the first fire started around 6:30 and I wonder if the first fire (and therefore, the big fire that started around 3:30 pm which was probably a reignition of the first) had to do with the power outage, perhaps from someone trying to cook breakfast.
The county can easily fast track the building permits and I expect that they will. The bigger issues are logistics: where do you house and feed the 2000-5000 workers that will be needed to rebuild the town in a reasonable amount of time?
As people have said, it’s not all of Maui that has been affected. Issue is, a lot of reports tend to describe the event as being Maui or Hawaii, and people get confused of the entire state or entirety of Maui being affected. The Tourism Board and news outlet need to be much clearer on what is open on Maui so businesses can continue.
Hawaii reconstruction is painlessly slow and doubt we will see the affected area come back till 5-10 years. We are talking about a state who cannot even finish paving a less than one mile section of road in 1-2 years and permitting to approve remodeling is comically slow of close to a year.
Hawaii reconstruction is painlessly slow and doubt we will see the affected area come back till 5-10 years. We are talking about a state who cannot even finish paving a less than one mile section of road in 1-2 years and permitting to approve remodeling is comically slow of close to a year.