Videos of Maui – 08/11/2023
Posted by delta on August 12th, 2023
Please do not come here… Every tank of gas you buy – every meal you buy – everything you do takes resources from relief efforts.
Send boxes of things – old cloths from your closets, cleaning supplies or canned goods from your kitchen or bathroom – soap, shaving supplies, shampoo, toilet paper – see the list in the last post… After the “sweeps” and “investigation” is over, cleanup will start – shovels, trashbags, push brooms will all be important at that point…
We have finite supplies on the island – so, if you are here – stop raiding Costco, Safeway, Foodland, Walmart, Target, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowes for supplies and then donating them – this is “displacing” resources we will need next week and the weeks to follow…
If you feel the need to donate, please order it online and have it sent here – and then donate it…
News Crews – I get it, use to be a cameraman myself – stop using resources. Bring in your own food, water and gas… Actually, you want to be helpful…? Take resources in with you… You want the shot…? Help people – they may tell you their story… Don’t worry, you don’t need to be part of the story by helping a few folks…
The only thing we (being my family and those with us in the relief efforts) really need money for (for the next week or so) is to take gas cans, bottled water, stacks of pizzas or plate lunches to the other side – there’s no working gas stations or markets over there right now and the shelters idea of a meal is a joke… So if you send me or Anna money that’ll be what we’ll be doing with it for the next few days…
Anything else you send us will be to get the stuff from the last post so we can distribute it to those who need it…
Yesterday, I went to the West Side (Lahaina) in a convoy to drop off supplies. The first three places we tried (churches) were very picky in what they received – they were “full up” with supplies. So we ended up taking most of what we had to the guy who popped a tent over on Honokawai Beach who was receiving and distributing right there on the sidewalk – the line of people was moving and there were no issues (we saw a few issues on the way in and didn’t know what to expect when we got further in). We drove by this guy on the way to our first drop point and saw that there were dinghies and jet skis bringing stuff in to him from boats and saw the line of folks getting supplies from him so we went back and gave him what we had left…
TODAY, I was passed on the way in by a motorcade – nothing like disrupting an hours long line of traffic for folks trying to get in there to drop supplies – for a photo-op… Take a damn helicopter next time!
The County, State, Red Cross and FEMA – well… They set up a few stations but the word has passed (true or not) that they are low on supplies and are “full” as far as beds go. Many folks do not want to leave their “location” and feel they have to stay “in place” (whether it’s a car, house or beach) or they don’t want to fill out the paperwork required (or sign their name to anything yet) – so they won’t go… It appears to be more about paperwork, rules and data…
People who were able to load things in their car do not want to leave their cars to fill out all the paperwork and then get supplies – more than a few people have come back to an empty car. People who are lucky enough to be in their family or friends house north of Lahaina do not want to leave the house because of the looting happening in the neighborhoods. People now “living” in parking lots, on the side of the road or beach parks do not want to leave “their area” because the supplies in their area is all they have. We citizens need to take supplies house to house, block to block, parking lot to parking lot and car to car – it’s on us to help these folks…
| I would like to add here to ALWAYS go in a convoy with as many folks as you can – you need to stay safe FIRST so you are able to help others – there is definitely safety in numbers. |
They have no running water or electricity – when they get running water it will be nasty and they will have to clean it somehow – we have to take these supplies to them…
The churches are full of things they do not need and the distribution centers (including a few beach parks) are full of things they can’t get rid of so every time we (or one of our friends) goes over there – we talk to people and make a list of what is needed, who requested it and where – and we get what we can, from various sources, for the next run…
For example, tomorrow – on the way out – we will be collecting gas, propane and diesel containers/cans (folks can write their names and address on them) and we will drive them over to this side, fill them up and take them to the addresses on the cans… If this isn’t set up ahead of time with someone on that side of the island, it wouldn’t get done – we’d waste the day driving around…
We confirmed how bad it was at the shelters today when the local gym opened up for folks so the kids could get a little release. We went to the main shelter in Kahului and they said we were not on their list so we could not announce it was available to them and we could not drive them there because none of our drivers were vetted. After talking to a few folks we found that they wouldn’t have came anyway because they can not leave the shelter because the shelters are full and they will lose their spot – they don’t even want to get up from their spot because if they “blink” everything from their spot will be gone…
As far as the West Side fire goes, basically everything on the Makai side of the Bypass Road is gone from Puamana to the Sea Wall at the end of Front Street (Safeway is still there at the North end and the Lahaina Inn in still there on the south end – but the metal in the cement in both buildings most likely melted – so they are still standing but probably unstable). At that point, everything on the Mauka side is gone from Shell Station at Kapunakea Street all the way to Fleming Road (right before the Police Station). You can literally see the melted electrical line on the side of the road:
A few folks were saying that their “alarm” to leave was when the wind blew the roof right off their house, that’s when they left and they saw and heard the houses “going up” behind them (most likely the propane tanks) as they were driving out of their neighborhood…
The thing is, we still have fires burning upcountry. Our neighborhood was saved by the rain a few days ago, but there’s still fires going…
OH! One thing I wanted to add is that there’s still no cell service out there – but the weirdest thing is happening, every once in a while (when you drive in certain zones) you can receive texts (but not send any out). So for those of you with loved ones, text them to find a land line, or pay phone, and give you a call ASAP…