> Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2023 10:38:01 -0400 > From: http://www.unumhumbrewing.com/~kevin.stube > To: http://dummy.us.eu.org/noelleg > Cc: Ian Reddy <http://www.unumhumbrewing.com/~ian.reddy>, > Laura <http://www.unumhumbrewing.com/~laura.winter>, > Unumhum Board <http://www.unumhumbrewing.com/~board> > > We flew home on our scheduled flight which departed about 30 > minutes late. When we took off there was one fire on the slopes > of Haleakala. When we landed back home about 11pm, we started > seeing the news and all the tragedy. We know the area a bit, and > it is just crazy to see some of the streets we drove down that no > one was on so we could get around the main traffic 12 hours later > are just gone. The surf shop where we had lessons on Monday > morning and the pizza place next door were totally gone Tuesday > night. Our instructor was a local lady, probably my age, who > lived behind the shop. Her family has the royal patents to their > land still, so she and her family have been there for hundreds of > years. We haven't been able to find out if she is safe or not. > Sunday we did a boat trip to Lanai with Pacific Whale Foundation. > Most the crew lived close enough to walk to work. We know their > main building almost across from the Banyan tree is gone, we don't > know about the rest of them. From the pictures, we haven't seen > their boat in the harbor and its a big enough boat that even if it > sank, it would be above water like some of the other burned out > boats. Its one of the biggest in that harbor, so we are hoping > that the captain and a few other crew may have been able to get on > the boat and get it out of the harbor. > > I am surprised that there isn't much talk about the environmental > impact. The first pictures of Lahaina harbor showed so much oil > in the water. The harbor itself wasn't a big marine area, so > hopefully the currents are keeping that oil in the harbor and the > oil isn't leaving the harbor and settling on the reefs and shore. > > Its hard to fathom, but people really lost everything. Maui Wave > Riders, the surf shop we always use lost the building from what > you can see in pictures. Its not just the building though, its 40 > surfboards, 100 rash guards for customers to wear during lessons, > the surf booties, then all the merchandise they sell, decades of > stickers from people visiting from around the world, their truck > down the road that stored another 40 surf boards is gone too. > Then some of the staff including our instructor Kahala lived > directly behind the building. So, they lost their home, their > work place, all their belongings, and everything the company > owned. Its not like they lived 20 minutes away from work, so if > work burned down, they still had their stuff or vice versa. Its > this way for most of Lahaina. The people live above their shops > or a block or two away. So they lost all their personal stuff and > the goods they sell to tourists. > > The school next to the Banyan tree is gone and they had just > started school on Monday I think. > > Sorry for the sad email, we have been looking at how lucky we are > to have gotten out when we did and not been stuck in traffic and > how sad we are for all the locals whose businesses we go to almost > every time we are there. I am sure it is the same for Laura. > > A toast, but not cheers, to Maui > > Kevin > > On 2023-08-11 10:24, Noelle wrote: > > Did you fly home or go to another part of Hawaii for the rest > > of your vacation? > > > > This reminds me so much of the Paradise fire. Very sad. > > > > On Thu, 10 Aug 2023, Kevin Stube wrote: > > > We didn’t have quite the adventures of others > > > but it still was intense at times. > > > > > > Knowing enough of Maui was helpful. We did a few dirt roads > > > to get around traffic and road closures. > > > > > > Sadly we now know one of those lost.