Tourists lost their summer vacations. Maui's locals lost everything

[JudyM]

The agony wrought by the deadliest US wildfire in a century is only beginning in Lahaina, Hawaii, where the inferno virtually wiped the town off the map.
…
It will be difficult for her community to rebuild: After Lahaina’s historic sugar cane mill shuttered in 1999, the hospitality industry quickly took over as the main economic engine of the community. The explosion of tourism over the years, however, has strained natural resources and astronomically driven up the cost of living – dividing the haves and have-nots in ways that felt untenable even before the fire’s devastation.
…
Looking beyond just the short-term needs, there is already growing concern that developers will now try to swoop in and buy up the land where people’s homes were destroyed, possibly rebuilding Lahaina into a Las Vegas-strip style tourism base.
…
The fear of land grabs from outsiders trying to cash-in on the tragedy and push more local people out of Maui are very real. Community groups have begun sharing resources, calling for people to report incidents of speculators circling their property in search of a deal. Thousands of people have also signed multiple petitions calling for a temporary moratorium on foreclosures amid the tragedy.

Despite the decades of change as visitors reshaped much of Hawaii, Lahaina treasured its history and residents worked hard to preserve the cultural heritage that made it so unique. Unlike the skyscrapers and luxury retail outposts on the Waikiki strip in neighboring Oahu island, Lahaina’s downtown – now largely razed – remained largely low-rise and dotted with small businesses built around a beloved, 150-year-old Banyan tree.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/economy/lahaina-maui-fires-locals-tourists-recovery/index.html

[intrepidity]

1. Maybe a line in the sand will finally be drawn

to start the recovery process from the destruction wrought on society by rapacious unrestrained capitalism.

Maybe Lahaina will be the poster child for when people finally said "ENOUGH!"

[hlthe2b]

2. Help is coming for the humans, but the pets need it too... See the link for Maui Humane Society:

I'd planned a donation this morning and lo and behold someone dropped $10 in a puddle in the park where I do my pre-dawn walk with my pup. I saw no one around that might have dropped it, so, that increases my planned donation! Fate...

If anyone else wants to donate, be patient as the link is sometimes slow...

https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/donate-olx/

[JudyM]

4. Thanks, great idea to add that here.

[MenloParque]

3. I'm hoping that no outsiders including billionaire mainlanders including Oprah and Amazon guy

As well as Foreign entities will be blocked from purchasing any land in and around Lahaina excluding the thousands of acres they already own. Lahaina is historic and I’m hoping the rebuilding process will have native Hawaiians reclaiming this beautiful fishing village.

[Rebl2]

6. Would hope so

Hope the governor steps up and doesn’t allow that to happen.

[elleng]

5. AWFUL!

Hawaii trip was a high school graduation gift from my folks (long time ago.)

Dad served as a Legal Officer @ Pearl Harbor (after the Japanese bombing.)

We didn't do Maui.

[Skittles]

7. if I hear anyone whining about their Hawaii vacation

I swear I will kick their ass

[question everything]

8. From PBS NewsHour comments by Noelani Ahia

The Maui that people know today is not the Maui of days of old. We have already — Kanaka Maoli have already been displaced by the plantations with land theft and resource extraction, taking our water away, and then the whaling industry, and then overtourism, hyper development for wealthy outsiders that come in and buy up large swathes of land and develop and bank water for that.

So, for Kanaka Maoli, we are very well aware of the threat of outside moneyed influences coming in and further removing us from our ancestral places and continuing a system of settler colonialism where the design is to destroy the indigenous, the indigeneity and replace it in the settlers' image.

And it's a very real fear that's happening right now, with people getting these phone calls.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/native-hawaiian-discusses-cultural-landmarks-art-and-artifacts-destroyed-by-maui-wildfire

[JudyM]

9. It's so sad.

What can really be done to stop it, though… Maybe Nature Conservancy can get in there and buy up some, at least, though it’s not going to prevent all the displacement.

[dflprincess]

10. One of the wingnut conspiracy theories around this

is that the fires were started by wealthy Democrats looking to buy up more land cheap.

They are, of course, already pointing fingers at Oprah and Obama.