After a fire at their townhouse complex, a B.C. family flew to Maui — where wildfires are raging | 24CA News
A B.C. lady at present in Maui along with her household mentioned it has been a loopy 24 hours since touchdown on the island.
At least six folks have died as fires have raged uncontrolled on the Hawaiian island fashionable with vacationers. The mayor confirmed Wednesday that properties and companies have burned down and a few communication companies, together with 911, have been knocked out.
Wildfires whipped up by heavy winds from hurricane Dora have raced by means of elements of Hawaii. Much of the historic Lāhainā is believed to be destroyed.
Tracy Robinson and her household landed at about 3:30 p.m. native time Tuesday.
“The flight was windy and bumpy, but they didn’t mention anything about wildfires or road closures or anything,” she mentioned.
They landed, acquired their rental automobile and determined to begin heading to Kaanapali.
“And then as soon as we got on the highway, the roads were blocked,” she mentioned. “They were turning us around. Fires were on both sides of the highway. We got turned around. We didn’t know where to go. So then we decided to try going the other way around the island.”
After driving for one more hour and a half, Robinson mentioned they have been circled once more. They didn’t know the place to go so she mentioned they only headed again towards the airport.
“There wasn’t any communication,” she mentioned. “Cellphone lines were down, there was nothing on the radio. So we just thought we would just try to wait it out.”
However, Robinson mentioned there was no info.
They have been finally advised to go to Kihei, the place they tried to discover a resort.
“The rooms were about $20,000 a night, which we clearly couldn’t afford,” she mentioned. “So then we got sent to a community centre in Kihei just to spend the night. We got there. There wasn’t any beds or anything. We were just sleeping in our cars.”
Robinson mentioned they a minimum of had entry to loos and water.
Then at 11:45 p.m. they acquired an emergency notification on their cellphones that they have been being evacuated to a different shelter in Maui.
“So we went there. Again, no beds, just water, food, bathrooms. So then we spent the night in our cars, which was quite a challenge,” Robinson mentioned.
She mentioned all roads have been closed, energy traces have been down, their telephones weren’t working and there was no communication.
“You just don’t know where to go,” she added.
This will not be even Robinson’s first brush with fires this week.
On Tuesday morning, there was a hearth of their Port Moody townhouse complicated.
“The four units just in front of our townhouse burnt down,” she mentioned. “We thought we were pretty lucky that we were actually leaving that night. So our place is pretty stinky and smelly, so we thought we could get away for a week. And when we came back home, the smell would be gone. But I guess the fires maybe followed us.”
That hearth has been deemed suspicious.
Travel professional Claire Newell mentioned if anybody has family members on Maui proper now they need to name the airways and e-book them on flights out as quickly as doable.
“The worry is that these fires are in some of the most popular places in the Lahaina area and very close to Kihei, which are very dense with accommodation for travellers,” Newell mentioned.
“So I am worried about people getting to the airport. A lot of people have been contacting our office, trying to get out as soon as possible, and we’re finding that there is space available on some WestJet and Air Canada flights later today.
“The issue is that we’ve heard that roads are closed with emergency vehicles only and that phone services are down and 911 is down. And some people that we know are sheltering in high schools to stay away and stay safe from the fires.”
For now, Robinson mentioned it’s one step at a time.
They are hoping they are often on a flight Wednesday afternoon.
She mentioned the perfect factor folks can do in this sort of scenario is to search out out the place info is being shared and do their analysis earlier than leaving.
“I would tell them to research the local news stations,” Robinson mentioned.
“They do everything basically on Facebook pages. There’s a Maui County Facebook page, there’s a Maui 24-7, I think it’s a news Facebook page. That’s where they were doing all their updates. But we didn’t know that until we asked people where they were getting their information from.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
