My sister said that the world listened “too well” about waiting on travel to Maui.
Tourism has decreased significantly and is affecting work schedules and family businesses.
The rest of the island’s population needs the “tourist” work and are scrambling.
Kihei, Wailea, Kahului, Hana, Upcountry, need tourists. (I don’t think that travel to Kaanapli is recommended.)
The snorkel tours to Molokini leaving from the Ma’alea harbor are back on.
I’m trying to schedule something for this fall. We’ll see.
I had a trip scheduled for late September but canceled - I’m an empath, and overly sensitive. I just couldn’t bring myself to go so soon (we stay in Ma’alaea) -
We did shift plans to Big Island (my old home).
And we do have a trip planned for February on Maui. I will work hard to get there, as I know the island will be struggling for a very long time. We will volunteer a few days while there.
It does seem that the resorts at Kaanapali are common default tourist destinations on Maui. Not that they are necessarily the best if you want to explore the island, since they are at the end of one of the spokes in the road network.
There are very vocal voices out there on the web urging people to stay away from the island. Some are just anti-colonialism zealots.
And some likely want the island’s economy to go into a recession so it would be easier to acquire real estate… who knows. The fact is the economy is tourism based., and those advocating for getting rid of tourism can’t make any changes overnight.
We have a Big Island trip planned, and we are sticking with it. Might add a Wailea trip later in the fall, but for now I just can’t hold tears when I see the photos of the devastation.
Now would be a good time to donate $$ to the local charities because donations usually dry out two weeks or so after the disaster.
There was a segment on NPR this morning about the 1000 or so unaccounted for, it made me feel slightly better.
Apparently the record keeping sucks, someone will call into the police station and say ‘John is missing’ but the police have no clue who John is, when they try to call the family to see if John has turned up they are finding disconnected phones or no answer, and if John is reported missing somewhere else he’s on the list twice.
I pray that the missing are just poor record keeping and not deaths.
What a sad story. This disabled woman was in the process of moving from her Lahaina home to Washington where she was building a small retirement house. Both houses burned to the ground in the past weeks! She was lucky she got a policy for her new home just 2 days before it was destroyed by the wildfire.
Are people who were unhoused / homeless before the fires being accounted for (to the extent that they were known about)? Seems that there is a significant number of unhoused / homeless people in the state of Hawaii, but somewhat less obvious to the general public.
It’s really hard to know—someone has to report your absence to authorities. If your name isn’t known, I am uncertain how your name would be added to the list of those missing. It is a logistical problem as well as a societal one.
People are attracted to the warm weather in our state and don’t always adequately plan for the very high cost of living and low wage jobs.
We received word today that the place we have booked in west Maui will give us a refund. That’s a load off. The other one in Kihei won’t entertain anything.
We’re leaning towards filing a claim with the travel insurance. Hawaiian Air will let us rebook, but we would have to travel before next August & we already have a trip planned for the spring and I have a major surgery in the summer.
Honestly, we would love to go over, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for us at the moment. I see the photos and video and my heart breaks. Worst case, if the insurance denies the claim, we’ll go for the 6 nights.
Seems that some are now encouraging tourists to visit Maui other than Lahaina / Kaanapali ((the western part of the island) in order to keep the local (heavily tourism based) economy going. Kihei is probably a better place to stay than Lahaina if you want to explore the island (it is close to the hub of the Maui road network).
My neighbors have a trip booked for October and have decided to go ahead. They called the hotel’s front desk which told them to please come. They plan to bring a suitcase with things to donate.
Please let them know they’re no longer looking for clothing. High on the list were diapers, wipes and feminine hygiene products (pads), new socks and underwear all sizes.
Happy news, in the paper this morning it was reported that they have found over 100 people alive and well on the list of 388 missing from Lahaina fire. List is being updated and divers and cadaver dogs continue the search.
She was lucky she got a policy for her new home just 2 days before it was destroyed by the wildfire.