As of this writing (4 p.m. HST) there are 53 confirmed dead in the Maui wildfires that started on Tuesday. 1,000 people are unaccounted for, historic Lahaina town is completely destroyed, and basic communications and infrastructure are heavily damaged. Flames are 80% contained.
The videos are similar to those that Californians saw during the 2018 Camp Fire that leveled the City of Paradise. In Maui too we watch residents given only seconds to flee, trees burning on both sides of the road, and winds spreading flames faster than people can run. In California people jumped into rivers and lakes, in Maui they leaped into Lahaina Harbor.
Before the Camp Fire Paradise was a city of 14,000 homes and 27,000 residents. 4½ years later Paradise is less than half what it once was: "more than 1,400 homes have been rebuilt and now nearly 10,000 people call Paradise home again."
Because of the importance of Lahaina to the State of Hawaii, your humble blogger hopes that Lahaina's restoration will be faster and more complete than California's rebuilding of Paradise. And, selfishly, it will raise the probability that I can visit Lahaina one more time before age and infirmity prevent me from doing so.
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