Maui Wildfire Update – September 11 as of 12 p.m.
Aloha,
Here are the latest Maui wildfire news, updates, and resources you need to know.
The governor signed the seventh emergency proclamation relating to the wildfires.
- West Maui, with the exception of the fire-damaged neighborhoods, will reopen to travelers on October 8. The region includes 11,000 hotel rooms.
- The State Water Code is fully restored. The move was welcomed by conservationists and Native Hawaiians concerned about the allocation of water resources in West Maui following the fire.
- State agencies and personnel are ordered to protect and preserve items of historic or cultural significance to the town and historic character of Lāhainā.
Funding continues to pour in for Maui’s recovery.
- According to Civil Beat, more than $494 million in relief funds for Maui has been pledged through government assistance, private donations and nonprofit efforts since the Aug. 8 fires in Lahaina.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide nearly $95 million to cover the cost of temporary housing at hotels, meals and other services for evacuees of the Maui fires through November.
- Federal assistance for Maui wildfire victims topped $60 million for more than 5,000 households.
Transitioning displaced families to long-term housing is among the many challenges of post-fire recovery.
- Gov. Green said 7,000 people displaced by the fire need longer-term housing. The state is looking at housing it can build or help build, 18 months from now or sooner in 2024.
- Family Life Center, a social service group, is working to create a pop-up village of 85 modular units on a 10-acre field, offering housing for around 250 people.
- Survivors of the Maui wildfires have until Sept. 15 to sign up for temporary emergency housing with the American Red Cross.
Health hazards in the burn area remain high for people wanting to return to Lahaina.
- The Department of Health says the top hazard concerns in the burn area include toxic contaminants present in debris and ash that may include lead, asbestos, arsenic or other hazardous materials.
- Gov. Green’s administration, along with input from FEMA leaders, Maui County police, fire and emergency management officials, will decide who gets to reenter Lahaina and when.
- “The urgency of being able to get back to our properties right now is a small cry, but it’s going to become a loud roar,” said U‘i Kahue, a Hawaiian cultural practitioner.
Maui residents continue to navigate grief and loss of people, culture and place.
- On Friday, hundreds gathered on their surfboards and paddleboards out at sea to grieve, heal, remember and honor victims of the Lahaina wildfire that ravaged the town a month ago.
- Strengthening that connection to land, culture, and traditional ways of knowing can be essential in healing, but finding any connection to the land in West Maui following the fire is difficult.
- “The complete destruction of the town has been a complete loss of identity for people,” said Edwin “Ekolu” Lindsey III, who comes from a long line of Maui cultural leaders.
Mahalo nui loa,
Your BG Team