Appalling images… On Wednesday August 9, 2023, the flames took hold of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, Hawaii. The following day, at a press conference, Governor Josh Green lamented: “It is the biggest natural disaster in the history of the State of Hawaii. We’re going to need to house thousands of people.” If the firefighters have controlled the fire to 80%, all the victims have not been counted. According to the authorities, 2,000 people are currently homeless and 55 dead have been found. Friday, August 11, for TF1 NewsFlorian, a Frenchman on site, said: “The winds were so strong that they uprooted all my trees. For three hours, I fought with trees that were falling on the roofs of neighbors, from my house. Along the way, I knocked on a lot of doors, I got a lot of people out of their homes. A lot of them stayed behind.” Emmanuel, another Frenchman, said: “We first collected basic necessities. What was most requested was camping equipment, blankets, diapers for babies, hygiene products…”
The smoke seeped into the houses
Thursday, August 10, in the 8 p.m. newspaper of TF1another French expatriate in Hawaii said: “The whole industry of this island is based on tourism. My wife, for example, is a boat captain, she works on catamarans, I am a diving instructor. The problem is that her boats burned down, me my dive club burned down too. So we no longer have a home, but also no longer have the ability to work.“ In order to help the victims of Lahaina, many online pots have however been launched. For’AFPFriday, August 11, Saraí Cruz, who worked at a Front Street restaurant, said: “We saw the smoke from afar. By the time we got back, in a minute or two, the black smoke was seeping into the house. We had to hurry, we took what we could, the important things . We took the car, we saw the flames at the neighbors, their house was already burning.” Lahaina resident Kekoa Lansford, meanwhile, lamented to theAFP : “We still see dead bodies floating in the water and on the dikes.”