Maui Wildfire Update – September 7 as of 12 p.m.
Aloha,
Here are the latest Maui wildfire news, updates, and resources you need to know.
Maui Emergency Management Agency launches ‘Maui Recovery’ website.
- Maui Recovers is a new online hub for residents and businesses seeking information and resources on safely returning to Lahaina.
- The website includes interactive maps that help the county communicate which areas are open or closed off and where there is an active unsafe water advisory.
- MEMA Interim Administrator Darryl Oliveira said he would be providing once-a-week updates on MauiRecovers.org for four consecutive weeks.
DBEDT expects a softer rebound of the local economy due to the impact of the wildfires.
- The revised statewide economic growth projection for 2023 is down to 1.1% from a previously expected 1.8%. In 2024, DBEDT expects 1.5% real GDP growth instead of a previously expected 2.0%, which amounts to a $1.25 billion downward change.
- UHERO expects the unemployment rate to “jump to as high as 10% in coming months before visitor spending returns.”
- Local business owners are bracing for impact but are more concerned about friends and family in Lahaina and Kula.
Travelers are welcome to visit Maui and help boost the local economy.
- State tourism officials continue urging visitors to return to Maui. The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s Mālama Maui campaign hopes to attract the “respectful, compassionate, and responsible traveler.”
- “With the unexpected and quick shutdown of the island, our whole household is now without an income,” Sabrina Rosenbloom, owner of a Maui-based eco-friendly kayaking tour company, said.
- UHERO believes it could take years for visitor numbers to return to where they were before the fires.
- Here’s what residents said about how tourists can support the community.
The Department of Education estimates it has yet to reach 500 displaced Lahaina students.
- Local authorities continue to work by phone and on foot to reach slightly more than 500 Lahaina public school students who have yet to be contacted by the state or enroll in new schools.
- More than 1,000 DOE employees have undergone psychological first aid training facilitated by The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
- DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi will update the Board of Education on the impact of Maui wildfires and how the school system is supporting those families today at 1 p.m.
In other news about support for Maui…
- The Hawaii House of Representatives announced it has established six interim House working groups that will make recommendations regarding the wildfires that devastated Lahaina last month.
- The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has pledged $5 million in emergency disaster relief funds to support Maui.
- Maui Humane Society has reunited more than 100 pets with their families.
Mahalo nui loa,
Your BG Team