Yesterday, much of the state, its travel partners and visitors were waiting with bated breath to understand better what’s ahead in the Lahaina fire recovery first and foremost, and as it relates to Maui travel. As well as promised guidance from the governor. That, however, didn’t happen.
On Tuesday, Josh Green said, “I’ll be making a much broader announcement and have a broader discussion about this on Friday in a statewide address. But we want people to travel to the state to the extent that they’re not impacting the hard work that these extraordinary people are doing (supporting disaster recovery).”
What was said by Hawaii Governor about Maui travel.
“We ask that people please not travel to the area affected by the disaster in West Maui until further notice, except for returning residents and authorized emergency relief workers.
However, all other areas of Maui and the rest of Hawai‘i are safe and open to visitors, and we continue to welcome and encourage travel to our beautiful state, which will support the local economy and help speed the recovery of those who have already suffered so much.”
Gov. Josh Green, M.D.
The short (less than 10 minutes) address was initially placed in the context of offering residents and visitors both “critical updates.” There was, however, nothing of that nature in terms of further details and what to expect.
Kaanapali and Kapalua Resorts on Maui are not mentioned.
West Maui includes not only devastated Lahaina, but also the famous Kaanapali and Kapalua resort communities. The fire did not impact their structures, and the road to them is again open to the public. We know that some of the resorts at Kaanapali hoped the Governor would officially state when guests would be welcomed back. When that didn’t happen, they were left wondering about their next steps and if they needed to act without state guidance.
Are critically important Maui fire press conferences on hold for now?
After many contentious questions and defensive answers that followed the Maui fires at the most recent press conferences and the rolling of heads after the last one, the governor changed format, at least for now, to a safer style monologue he has used in past days.
The news about the Maui fires has left those of us who live in Hawaii still reeling. Few here are untouched by the disaster. Beat of Hawaii editors have seen four familes of friends and relatives left homeless, while others we know are still missing loved ones. Honestly, we go on, but we are simply no loonger the same. And, as much as we remain focused on the devastation, we can’t help but be left wanting for more answers as to how this happened, at whose hands it did, and how we can prevent similar disasters in the future.
Difficult press conferences are vital following disasters like the Lahaina fire.
First, they are essential for coordinating information between officials and the public. They provide a way for the public to hear directly from those responsible for the disaster recovery on Maui. It helps to stop us from wondering what is going on by keeping us informed. Pressing questions can address issues officials would rather avoid.
A spokesperson for Maui County admonishes reporters to “be gentle with us.”
The spokesperson has said on multiple occasions to be gentle with county and state officials at press conferences. She has even suggested that by doing so, it is somehow a form of Aloha to do so.
We can’t help but wonder if that isn’t misguided and that Aloha is actually better represented in the pointed questions being asked about the fire and the failed response. For example, why there was no water available to fight the Lahaina fire, why emergency sirens were not sounded, and why critical emergency employees were allowed to vacation at the same time.
Is transparency missing after the Lahaina fire?
Open press conferences are critical to providing much-needed government transparency and insights into all aspects of the Lahaina fire disaster and the recovery. Press conferences let media ask questions that citizens want to know answers to, and obtain clarification. This helps reassure Hawaii constituents and stakeholders that critical issues are being addressed.
Don’t blame the Gov it was the local public sector that underperformed, along with local celebrities telling people to stay away.
Hawaii has no marketable resources, except agriculture, which they’ve done their best to kill. Tourism is their only viable product and tourism can’t be exported. So good luck to the governor and to his fantasy of moving the state beyond tourism. We’ve been visiting the islands for over forty years. During that time, we’ve noticed a trend of distain and resentment towards tourists. It would behoove Hawaiians to restore the spirit of aloha before they kill their only cash cow. There are alot of other beautiful places to visit.
Is someone going to cover the large discrepancy between the amount of people missing (1000+) and the number of recorded deaths (114)? It seems odd to me that the gov says they have “searched 79%” of the area and only found this many dead. Could you cover this in an article? Thanks so much!
For people who are homeless hope you provide a place for them to live at least for a year.Money that’s going for relief I hope and pray that money goes to the..Build tiny homes or something.. Please help them..I pray for y’all and safety..Pray for the loss..My heart is with you..May God bless you each..Hugs Thank you
I have a trip booked the end of January to kaanapolia Beach hotel. Not sure if I should cancel as I do not want to disrespect the Hawaii culture.
With titles come responsibilities and unfortunately, many Failed the innocent people in Lahaina and not they need to be adults and accept the consequences! AS the study after hurricane Lance showed, all of the or lots of it could have been prevented and even then, Governor Green who was a LT Governor then, knew of all of this! Shame on them!
Yes, it seems like every August has been ‘hurricane season’ for the last decade at least. The West Side fire during Hurricane Lane in 2018 seems to have started pretty much the same way, and seemed very serious… until now. That 2018 fire was almost nothing compared to this, but it should have been a constructive lesson. One person died, homes were lost, and lives turned upside down.
The cries that “this has never happened before”, and “how could we have known?” just don’t ring true for me. Praying for courage in our leaders to work together for a better future. “The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness” King Kamehameha III
Aloha and please come to Kahana. Nothing is burned out here. We have vacancies and the individual owners of our units would all say, “E komo mai” – Welcome!
Bring your children before they have to return to school. Much of the area of northern West Maui is pristine and beautiful.
Mahalo in advance for supporting our economy, which has become even more important to Maui due to recent unspeakable losses. Our hearts and minds, thoughts and prayers are with our friends who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods. E hana kakou to improve Maui and move forward together.
Have utilities been restored north of Lahaina Town?
Tsunami warning is for tsunamis not fires. Stop blaming the sirens.
The official use of the Maui sirens is for tsunamis, wild fires and any other urgent public alert that needs to be issued. No one is blaming the sirens, which were in good working condition. Sirens do not turn themselves on automatically but maybe this could be programmed into the system as a future improvement. Then we will not need to rely on a human who decides that people are too stupid to know not to rush in the direction of a burning area.
You are wrong. The sirens are exclusively for tsunamis. That was their original intention and people were trained to run to the hills (in direction of fire). Many more would’ve died. He should be hailed as a hero.
Hi Charles.
To clarify, here’s what the governor said today. “Do I wish those sirens went off? Of course I do. And I think that the answer that the- the emergency administrator for Maui, who has resigned, said was, of course, utterly unsatisfactory to the world. But it is the case that- that we’ve historically not used those kinds of warnings or fires.”
Aloha.
Lol. Politicians always feel for the direction of wind before talking. The guy who didn’t sound the sirens was not an elected official and did not deserve to be the scapegoat. The people of Maui have learned a great lesson. Don’t just fight for the proper use of the land. Fight for proper infrastructure like underground power lines, both tsunami sirens and fire sirens, and better access roads into and out of Lahaina.
The sirens were used as a pre warning prior to Hurricane Iniki’s devastation of Kauai-the sirens gave Kauai residents an early warning of the impending disaster
My prayers and thoughts are with the Lahainians people. I feel so blessed that my son could come visit us and I could put my arms around him. He considers Lahaina to now be his home for the last 5 years. Others were not as fortunate as my family.
Something really fishy about the entire narrative!
Amen. And let’s not lose sight of Napili, Kahana, and Honokowai in the discussion about areas of West Maui that should be addressed vis a vis tourism. Owners in these areas (which tend towards individuals rather than international hotel corporations) stand to lose also when the state cannot send a clear message.
The governor having his wife cry on TV was not beneficial…. maybe he had different motives by having her get up in front of the TV camera, but she is not being useful as a public servant crying when people are waiting to find out about maui.
First things first. Recovery, grieving, health care, shelter water, food.
We need restoration of employment, housing, and a plan for overall reconstruction.
There are so many things to be done for residents and business owners. Let alone visitor accommodation, the life blood of the economy.
For example, food for restaurants is in oversupply, while groceries are being consumed faster than normal. The supply chain will take 45 to 60 days to stabilize. This is just an example of the many systems.
Then, the daunting task of reconstruction follows. This is held up until property insurance, contractor estimates, design, and a problem with construction worker and material shortages are faced. In the Virgin Islands, this took up to 18 months for some of the insurers to come to terms with their insured.
We need architectural services at a scale well beyond what is there. The newest set of International Building Codes require many things that were not required before. This is good, as fire protection and safety is at the top of the list.
Code Enforcement and Plan Review needs will overwhelm the system. Historic reconstruction will need to be effectively coordinated in real time to avoid combative delays.
This effort requires a new way of thinking. A reconstruction management team must be put together quickly to get this started. They should be appointed carefully and with the realization that this will be a full time plus job for 8 to 10 years.
Well put! Key Community Leaders, to include Cultural Advisors, they must be a part of the dicussion and planning. Community leaders should already be with a list of priorities from all parts of the Lahaina Ohana, businesses and residents alike. While volunteering at the shelter, I was fortunate to listen to concerns from homeowners, business owners as well as the homeless! Malama Pono to all!
Instead of hiring people from the mainland for reconstruction, Maui needs to immediately begin training the young people of the island in the building trades. The local community colleges and high schools need to implement apprenticeship classes so that young folks don’t have to depend on tourism for their livelihoods. A win-win for everybody.
Sounds well and good. The only thing if your wanting to do things on a timeline the other conidiations will be thought of. This will happen and has to happen.
Without the tourism industry and donations coming from tourist they place would be similar to other disaster areas.
Open your eyes people!
The spirit of Aloha is missing in your reporting here. You miss the point. Show respect to Maui County officials by giving them time to recover from the most fatal wildfire in the last 100 years. They are doing the best they can do. There is plenty of time to resolve the past problems and prepare for a better tomorrow. Mahalo!
That’s what you get when you become a one party state. I’m not saying others would necessarily have done any better, but when the politicians are so secure in their positions and there is little in the way of checks and balances in the legislature, why should they feel the need to account for their mismanagement?
There is a serious lack of introspection and critical self examination in all Hawaii politics. The domination of elected offices does not allow for it. The motto always seems to be circle the wagons, wait your turn, stick to the narrative.
So true! And let’s look at Washington, DC as a prime example of a two-party system at work, where falsification of resumés and bald-faced lies get representatives elected and remaining in office.
The authorities were just unprepared for this disaster and there is no reference operation manual. The human and animal loss of life is unimaginable. Human error and fate compounded and snowballed. That’s one of the most important lessons from this catastrophe, the limits of our control. Technology did not save them.
If the governor had mentioned that the road to the resorts was open he would have been ripped to shreds as favoring big business.
Our elected officials are supposed to work for us, in theory. Unfortunately, we can see from their actions that they have other priorities. Therefore, if you don’t like the job they are (or are not) doing, you can always vote differently in the next election. What do you have to lose? As long as you keep on voting the way you did, you will keep on getting the results that you got.
So much a loss of friends and family so sad. Praying for missing people, so many. Maui is a small world.
Our heart go out to the people of maui and our beloved Lahaina!!
We happen to have reservations in kaanapali in Nov., but our full refund cancelation date is Sept 20th. We have reached out to the owner to please consider extending the full refund cancelation date, but have heard nothing back. Any thoughts, since you are closer to the goings on and government than we are?
Hi Linda.
We’re expecting more information by the end of August.
Aloha.
Thank you so much. And thank you for keeping us updated with the love of Hawaii in your hearts. We have been coming to Maui (in particular) for 45 years now. We are grieving for all the people and their homes and livelihood.
Unfortunately, the lack of communication has already inspired “conspiracy theories” in online media. There is an old saying “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen”. Elected and appointed government folks need to remember why their positions exist.
We were booked at The Whaler for mid-January 2024. It’s impossible to know what West Maui will be like by then, what will be open, whether we would be taking space away from recovery workers or people who lost their homes. We decided to go ahead and book in Kihei instead, fearing that if we waited for clarity we wouldn’t be able to find accommodations at a reasonable price in the location we wanted.