Maui

[imref]

I made the mistake of watching some of the video from Maui this morning. Scenes are just devastating. There are reports that more than 1,000 people are still missing.  Residents in the western part of the island had little warning, and quite a bit of difficulty escaping.

[HondoKillebrew]

Horrific

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Not really the praying type, but hoping for safety and comfort for everyone there.

Wildfires are nuts.  Used to really like the idea of living on the west coast someday, but I'm starting to question the wisdom of that.

I remember a contestant/applicant on MasterChef a few years ago.  He lived in San Diego.  He had some horrific burns from a spur-of-the-moment wildfire that ravaged his community.

[Natsinpwc]

Just terrible.  It’s a warning from Mother Nature. And not the only one.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It's just hard for me to think of Hawaii as dry enough to burn. The wind set up I get

[Slateman]

It's just hard for me to think of Hawaii as dry enough to burn. The wind set up I get

Ohau, yea. But Maui and the Big Island have higher elevations. Numerous times we had to cease fire at PTA to make sure a small brushfire was put out

[Natsinpwc]

Even the west end of Oahu is dry for much of the year. Or at least parts of it. Not sure how much risk.  I’m sure nothing the people ever thought of as a risk.

[HalfSmokes]

Even the west end of Oahu is dry for much of the year. Or at least parts of it. Not sure how much risk.  I’m sure nothing the people ever thought of as a risk.

Nytimes said that they used to be pineapple plantations which weren’t a risk, but they’ve all gone under so now it’s grass that grows in the rainy season and then totally dries out

[imref]

There’s an article in the wall st journal today saying a 2014 study warned the government of potential for exactly the scenario that played out. The government implemented some of the advised mitigation measures but not all of them.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hawaii-maui-fire-risks-plans-government-e883f3a3

They also layout the timeline. About 6 hours from small brushfire to the town being destroyed

[Natsinpwc]

It’s hard to get the populace to react to something for the first time. Unfortunately. Ask hard to get the government to react for the first time. Other priorities for the money. They have been focused on hurricanes and tidal waves.

[Natsinpwc]

Nytimes said that they used to be pineapple plantations which weren’t a risk, but they’ve all gone under so now it’s grass that grows in the rainy season and then totally dries out

Yeah. The Dole  plantation is still there as a tourist place but I guess the others have gone away. Not many folks live out that way.

[imref]

We visited the dole plantation on Oahu a few years ago. Fun way to spend a couple of hours.

[imref]

It’s hard to get the populace to react to something for the first time. Unfortunately. Ask hard to get the government to react for the first time. Other priorities for the money. They have been focused on hurricanes and tidal waves.

Yeah. The wsj article noted they did thin the grass.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

It's just hard for me to think of Hawaii as dry enough to burn. The wind set up I get

Just about any mountainous island is likely to have a leeward side, which can get fairly dry.  Cities like Honolulu and Kona actually have relatively low annual precip.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Just about any mountainous island is likely to have a leeward side, which can get fairly dry.  Cities like Honolulu and Kona actually have relatively low annual precip.

makes sense. Just you think of Hawaii as lush

[Natsinpwc]

makes sense. Just you think of Hawaii as lush

At least in Honolulu you are within viewing distance of the Koolaus which separate the windward and leeward sides and where they get more rain. And when the rain does come in Honolulu it is usually brief and light. Liquid sunshine. Thus the rainbows. Last time there we rented a house up near the University and it rained every day a bit in the afternoon. Technically that is Honolulu and only a couple of miles away from Waikiki but gets much more rain.

[aspenbubba]

I know 2 guys who have second homes on Maui and one was only 7 miles from the fire and the other was one mile north of the other house. They were very fortunate as the devastation was horrific.  The people who have lost everything including family members and friends, that can never be replaced, my heart goes out to them.

[Count Walewski]

I stopped reading more about the fire after reading a story from a survivor who says that the wildfire was spreading so fast that as cars were evacuating the area, the cars were catching fire and exploding. He survived by getting out of his car and fleeing on foot.

Horrible, horrible situation.

[imref]

I stopped reading more about the fire after reading a story from a survivor who says that the wildfire was spreading so fast that as cars were evacuating the area, the cars were catching fire and exploding. He survived by getting out of his car and fleeing on foot.

Horrible, horrible situation.

~1,300 still missing.

[Five Banners]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66492414

“When a 'fire hurricane' hit, Maui's warning sirens never sounded”

[imref]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66492414

When a 'fire hurricane' hit, Maui's warning sirens never sounded

i doubt it would have made any difference. It was less than 6 hours from start of the fire to Lahaina being engulfed and exit routes were blocked. There were warnings via radio and TV, but again, so little time and no way out.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66492414

“When a 'fire hurricane' hit, Maui's warning sirens never sounded”

I heard the emergency manager who made the decision not to sound the sirens. There actually was a rationale behind it. The sirens are used for tsunamis, so folks are trained to flee uphill rather than go to the water. With the fires coming in, he thought there would be more chaos, so they just went with phone trees and pinged people. As I said, there was a rationale rather a malfunction. Whether the rationale was the right call is another question.

[imref]

A report from a tourist who managed to avoid the Lahaina fires, purely by luck. His story notes that outside of the main part of Lahaina, nobody knew what was going on or the extent of the threat:

https://bogoodski.com/maui.html