Oh no. I didn’t know this.
It’s scorched but still standing.
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my D has a trip in two weeks that she has been planning for a year. she is to stay in the middle of Maui. Her concern is that if she has to cancel, she will not get the refunds from the airlines, lodging , excursions, etc. Note that she saved for years for this trip, so money is important to her. She did say that with her experience in volunteering , that she may still go and see if they can use her.
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The loss of property and life is devastating.
But I also think of the Banyan Trees which were so historic and old.
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Spent the morning noodling what to do with the first week of October Maui/Kaanapali reservations.
After lot of deliberation we’ve decided to rebook for the island of Hawaii. Even if roads are fully open, and there is a sense of normalcy, H is concerned about infrastructure. Will hotels be housing locals who lost their homes? Will there be a shortage of hotel staff due to the disrupted local lives?
Going to sleep on this decision. We have until August 18th before we start incurring penalties on the Hawaii reservation. The Maui ones don’t enter penalty phase until Sept 29th. Will see how we feel over the next few days.
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80% of Lahaina is destroyed. 
The banyan tree has been badly scorched and may not survive. The death toll stands at 36 but will climb as rescuers continue combing through the rubble. It is hard to imagine or believe. 
it all happened so fast. The Kihei fire is apparently still burning, and firefighters are still battling the Kula fire, last time I checked the status.
Looking for local Hawaii relief organizations to donate to and will post whatever i find.
Death toll is now at 53. That’s a lot of human life. 
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This - did extensive research this morning. Convinced the company I work for to match dollar for $ up to $10k as part of their xxx Cares grant program. They know Maui has a piece of my heart.
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I say this with kindness, please encourage your daughter to change her timeline and not go. Unless she lives there, or has been requested to come, they would rather not have to worry about another person who needs to fly in and out.
My sister lives in Kihei. She and her family are okay. The firefighters held the line and saved her home. She is in a position whereby she will be acclimating some of the FEMA personnel to the area offices she is setting up.
She is currently asking us to relay to others that Maui does not have the resources to support non-Red Cross personnel. They are trying to get tourists OFF of the island because they just don’t have the resources.
Local Residents are volunteering to help with traffic, supplies, checking on elderly homes, and reporting to the authorities.
As an island, they have to have everything shipped in (ship or airline) including gas/electric crews, cell phone tower crews, construction crews, from the other islands, to get food/supplies to support those emergency personnel. The Red Cross and several of the churches are very organized and have ALOHA personnel helping.
Supplies, at the grocery stores, are now low. Cell phone service is inconsistent.
They have locals who know the back roads on Leeward and windward parts of the island.
Many of the displaced don’t have homes left. Many of them work for the tourist industry and couldn’t get to their jobs even if they wanted to.
The National Guard was activated. The shelters are at the schools. The HS students have all pitched in with “Aloha” to help out. They know the neighborhoods well. The air is still toxic with smoke.
The hospital is small.
The airport is small.
Car rentals will be used by Red Cross and Construction crews. Please tell your daughter to wait. If they need help, they will ask. Kama’aina/residents, throughout the islands, who are originally from Maui, have already stepped up. They know the “lay of the land”.
If she’s interested on the latest news she can go to the website Maui Now dot com. There, she will see the devastation.
Mahalo!
Edited to Add: The islands have always prepped for hurricanes and emergencies. Please see the post #31, by @BunsenBurner if you would like to help the local organizations.
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We’re waiting on any go/no go decision until September. The flights can be changed no problem, but lodging is non-refundable at the moment. It’s a good chunk of change. Unfortunately, I didn’t purchase a cancel for any reason policy.
I fully expect one of the places to categorically refuse a refund, while the other might. The offices are closed right now.
Links to local organizations:
Made some donations.
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That is a concern. How can they expect the tourists to stay away if lodging is non refundable.
The hotels should take this into account. Yes they rely on tourists for a living, but if its not safe , tgat should be a bigger concern
This really sucks for my daughter. She only has this time off from her job . Saved for years. I hope she can divert to another island .
Please let us know what the hotel says.
Agree that I would encourage her to reschedule or go to another island. they really can’t even accommodate all who live on Maui and are encouraging those residents who have lost homes to shelter on Oahu, at the convention center. They are not able to help volunteers figure out how to help and have no spare lodging, period. She should try to see what refunds she can get or perhaps ask if she can get credit and move her trip out a year.
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I’m sure this really “sucks” for your daughter but sounds like she should reschedule, try to get whatever money back she can . Refund policies hopefully will be very flexible, given the circumstances.
Best to those in Hawaii and those from other places still trying to get home. Very sad and devastating.
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I think as things settle as much as they can in the next couple of weeks there will be a better picture of what is possible wrt refunds, etc.
With any luck the focus will be on housing for locals and the managers of the short-term rentals will be willing or even pushing for tourists to cancel in order for locals to have places to live. (We rented in two condo buildings, one through a Maui Coldwell Banker office and the other with a local Maui company.)
I really doubt we’ll be taking the trip. Concern for residents in this tragedy is the priority…
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The island has inconsistent power, which affects everything, like gas stations, lighting, elevators, and getting around the island. The bigger resorts have generators, but they can only run them for so long without employees.
I’m sorry that your daughter is faced with this awful situation. I don’t know what part of the island where she booked her lodging but Lahaina is a no go. Too much damage, smoke and toxins, and they are still looking for lost individuals. Kihei roads are being monitored because there were still hot spots along Pi’ilani Hwy, so the trek on S. Kihei road is a nightmare for residents trying to find daily living supplies.
Right now, when they are in full emergency status, should be the time when she contacts her lodging facility. If she is booked at a hotel, she should try to call and email now. The reception is spotty. Have her directly call the hotel, they will probably be accommodating because it is a disaster. The Hawaiians are very sympathetic to their lodgers. If she’s at an Air B & B, they should accommodate (those folks make a killing on their bookings). They should want positive reviews. If she has difficulty in rescheduling, then she needs to contact the Hawaii Tourism board and file a complaint.
Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau (Maui, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i)
Sherry Duong, Executive Director
(808) 244-3530
maui@hvcb.org
If you have general travel-related questions,
email info@gohawaii.com or call 1-800-GoHawaii
(1-800-464-2924).
We have a trip planned to the Big Island in a couple of months. I’m monitoring the situation because Kohala Coast is still in the red zone. If things don’t explode out of control, we are a go. I recall wringing my arms trying to make the right decision when the volcano burned several subdivisions and the island was covered in smoke… we eventually went, and the workers at the deserted hotel thanked us because tourists bailed out leaving then with no work or tips.
That said, I will NOT travel to Maui any time soon unless the locals will need us mainland visitors. The devastation is simply unreal. I look at the pictures and think it is all a bad dream.
Please donate to lesser known charities like Maui Humane Society and Maui Food Bank as well as the general relief fund.
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Note also that Kaanapali, where many of the resorts are, is beyond Lahaina on one of the “spoke” roads. The Maui road network is basically a spine and spoke layout, with the spine being the roads between Kahului (where the OGG airport is) and Kihei, and spokes leading to Lahaina / Kaanapali / Kapalua, Wailoa, Hana, and Haleakala.
So Kaanapali resorts are likely a no go (even more so than the rest of the island; as noted above, the hotel rooms are probably needed for residents who got burned out of their homes, relief workers, utility workers, and construction workers) for the same reason.
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What would really “suck” is for your D to go, discover that her dream vacation that she saved for years for, was in a veritable war zone.
Have you seen what’s going on there? If you’re on Facebook look up 2 specific pages: Maui Bound and Maui 24/7 - sadly there is nothing charming or wonderful about Maui right now.
For the record, I’m taking my own advice and will call my bff who I have a reservation with, in Maui, for late September - I did some reviewing and there are a ton of places, right on the water in Kona (Big Island) for less than “our” place in Maui - I can switch flights, the rest falls into place.
Have your D look into something on Big Island in the “downtown” Kona area (Ali’i Drive) - at this moment there is still a lot of availability, which I expect will change very soon.
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