#Lahaina

[probablyasocialecologist]

Kaniela Ing said Lahaina’s pre-colonial history is particularly important for people to know—not just for the sake of Lahaina’s Native residents, but because it reveals the deeply unnatural roots of this so-called “natural” disaster. After all, he noted, Lahaina used to be a wetland. It was only because of colonization and climate change that it became a tinderbox. “Lahaina wasn’t always a dry, fire-prone region. It was very wet and lush, historically. Boats would circle the famous Waiola Church. Lahaina was also the breeding place of aquaculture. It had some of the world's first and most innovative systems of fish ponds. ”But at the dawn of the 18th century, sugar barons arrived and illicitly diverted the water to irrigate the lands they had stolen. (Note: 18th century European sugar and pineapple barons also brought invasive grasses, Wired reports, which now cover 26 percent of Hawaii and become “explosive” fuel for wildfires.) “Today, descendants from those same barons amass fast profits from controlling our irrigation, our land use, and political influence. Alexander and Baldwin are two big missionary families of the original oligarchs, and they’re currently the largest landowners on Maui. That’s the name of their corporation and they’re one of the top political donors here today. “So on one hand, the climate emergency caused this. On the other, it’s also that history of colonial greed that made Lahaina the dry place that it is."

[terrible-eel]

I may be too stressed to articulate this clearly but I am going to try.

While Hawai'i and Maui are trending I'm going to share this link. Its a FAQ about Hawai'i's statehood and the situation Hawai'i is in at the moment. There are people who want to be part of the U.S in Hawai'i and there are people who don't, but the people of Hawai'i were never, at any point, given an option to choose.

If you want to help Hawai'i and it's people but can't donate, spread this word. Help educate people. Make Hawai'i as the tropical paradise be replaced with the sovereign nation stolen by the u.s.

It is subtropical, meaning it is much more vulnerable to arid climates caused by climate change.

It has been systematically stripped of its native food harvesting practices and any ability to farm and self sustain. It has been systematically stripped of its previous industries. Maui used to export milk and cattle. That's all been taken away.

The islands since the 1800s were exploited as plantations, burning sugar cane and growing pineapples which are not native, diverting the water and depleting the water table.

Lahaina burned because of these practices. Because the native people were no longer allowed to govern their lands.

We as local people know that tourism is bad because this systematic destruction has happened in living memory. Within my grandparent's lifetimes, within my lifetime. I have watched this island crumble at the hands of mainland startups, hoping to take people on whale watching tours that cut the whales with their boats while people aren't allowed to have a ferry between islands. People create ziplines and tours through lands that used to belong to local people for farming and cattle. Now they're bought out for photos and hikes the local people can never afford. Hundreds of jobs have been lost in the past thirty years. Mass migrations to the mainland have been made by local people, myself included because we can no longer afford to stay on the island where we were born. Working three jobs is not enough to cover the rent because the houses are bought up by mainland people who then turn these houses into vacation rentals and charge hundreds a night. Right now these very homes are being paid for by the government so that Lahaina people have somewhere to stay and it's costing the state millions that people in the mainland are reeping.

People ask why tourism is bad. Because there are people alive today on Maui that have watched the foreign industries destroy everything. Because people alive today know what used to be and knew how to take care of the ecosystem so that this kind of calamity didn't happen. Lahaina was not just fertile. They had canals and waterways. Rivers that they would drive boats through to go from one part of town to another. It was more like Venice than this desert you see in pictures.

And do your own research. The information is out there. There are two Hawai'i's. The one you see as a tourist, and the REAL one. The one we need to protect.

Let Hawaiians have their land back. Let them restore the water to the land so we can prevent further catastrophe. Tell people about REAL Hawaii.

[theindependenttrentcrimm]

Last post touching on the Hawaii situation:

Please disregard reporting that puts tourism front and center of this story. Lahaina is so much more than a tourist attraction. It is so so culturally significant and historic and fucking important. The islands are more than a tourist attraction and the residents deserve to be seen as fucking people. Please.

[liberalsarecool]

Lahaina, Hawaii. Before and... now.

Extreme weather is here. We did this.

[tymika-rose]

Aloha to everyone who comes across this post,

If you don’t know- Maui, Hawai’i has underwent the most devastating, traumatic tragedy thus far. The presence of Hurricane Dora has caused great winds to pick up rapidly, causing destruction & a mass wildfire to spread; completely engulfing the historic town- Lāhainā.

Homes were burnt to ashes, businesses, schools, churches EVERYTHING. The people of Lāhainā have experienced a burdening loss of their land & home, some have lost a pet, or/and a family member💔There are still ppl missing; bodies still being found (floating in the ocean, burnt in cars with their ohana or holding on to their other half )

It is truly like a scene out of a movie, but worse. An apocalyptic scene. A destructive heartbreak to all of Hawai’i. All in all, this is history in the making.

I am sharing this hoping it reaches those near & far so the word can spread. If you feel it in your heart to help in any way possible please read each photo thoroughly, repost, share, follow, donate, or simply just understand that right now Maui is not open for travel. Right now Maui residents are stranded; no running water, electricity, food, clothes, gasoline, cell service etc.

They need time to come back from this. WE need time to HELP them; right now all the people of Hawai’i have been coming together to help but tourism will only be getting in the way; will only be using up the valuable resources that the people of Lāhainā need more than ever right now.

If you reach this, Mahalo🤍🤙🏽

the tagged profile mentioned in the pictures are on instagram- please follow for updates & resources/ information.

Other accounts that are good to follow on ig in regards to the Lāhainā Fire:

@gem.in.eye

@hawanemusic

@kakoo_haleakala

@mehanaokala

[bearded-shepherd]

Wildfire hits the historic town of Lahaina-Maui, Hawai'i

Twitter (source)

" Amid a string of wildfires burning in Hawaii that forced evacuations and cut power to thousands, massive blazes in the tourist town of Lahaina on Maui, fueled by a mix of land and atmospheric conditions that can create "fire weather," sent people running into the ocean seeking safety.

At least six people were killed in the fires, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said at a briefing Wednesday.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to CBS News that crews had rescued about a dozen people who jumped into the water in an effort to escape the Lahaina fires, which left a number of structures badly damaged. On Front Street, a popular tourist destination in the town, business owner Alan Dickar described seeing buildings on both sides of the street "engulfed" in flames, in comments to CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB-TV.

"There were no fire trucks at that point; I think the fire department was overwhelmed," Dickar told the station. Speaking later to CBS News' Patrick Torphy, he added: "Maui can't handle this. ... A lot of people just lost their jobs because a lot of businesses burned. A lot of people lost their homes. ... This is going to be devastating for Maui..." " -cbsnews

[reasonsforhope]

In the aftermath of the most destructive fires in the island state’s recent memory, donations have poured in to help the thousands of affected residents on Maui.

Now, celebrity duo Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have created a special welfare fund that will provide those directly injured or whose property was damaged by the fires with $1,200 per month out of their own pockets.

Together they created The People’s Fund of Maui, which is armed with $10 million in aid money donated by the two celebrities, will ensure those in need are reached directly.

“I have been meeting with people throughout the community that were impacted by the fires over the last few weeks, asking what they most needed and how I could be of service,” Ms. Winfrey said in a press release.

“The main thing I’ve been hearing is their concern about how to move forward under the immense financial burden. The community has come together in so many wonderful ways, and my intention is to support those impacted as they determine what rebuilding looks like for them.”

A variety of Maui residents and community leaders were consulted by Winfrey and Johnson who both hoped to ensure that neither time nor money was wasted in getting aid directly to those who need it.

“As people around the world watched the catastrophic loss and devastation caused by the Maui wildfires, they also witnessed the great spirit and resilience of our Polynesian culture and the tremendous strength of the people of Maui,” Mr. Johnson added in the same release.

-via Good News Network, September 5, 2023

[odinsblog]

There is no $700 dollar cap on assistance for those needing help in Maui. That is a lie. The head of FEMA never said that the residents of Maui shouldn’t be expecting any more financial assistance. That is also a lie.

(source)

Please beware of people spreading disinformation about Maui relief. These kind of lies usually come from Republicans, but be aware that pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian “leftists” (aka tankies) will often spread the same, easily disproven lies and talking points — because the goal of sowing distrust is a shared one.

Republicans and tankies have no qualms about using the people of Maui’s suffering to push their agendas.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Research by Clay Trauernicht, a fire specialist at the University of Hawaii, and others has shown that the scale and frequency of wildfires have been increasing across in Hawaii from the early 1900s to the 2010s. The researchers also identified a major culprit: non-native plants. “Wildfires were most frequent in developed areas, but most areas burned occurred in dry non-native grasslands and shrublands that currently compose 24 percent of Hawaii’s total land cover,” the researchers wrote. “These grass-dominated landscapes allow wildfires to propagate rapidly.” The non-native grasses were brought to Hawaii by cattle ranchers in the 19th century, University of California Santa Barbara ecologist Carla D’Antonio told me. “They were selected because they were drought tolerant.” They are also invasive. The abandoned sugar and pineapple farms across the state are quickly taken over by non-native grasses. “When the land gets abandoned, the grasses are the first invaders. All you need is a little drought to have a flammable landscape.” Maui is currently in a drought. The grasses are an especially potent fuel, D'Antonio explained, because they grow quickly when it rains and then stick around, deeply rooted into the soil, as dry, dead organic matter, becoming a “standing layer of very ignitable fuel.” Then after a fire, these non-native plants tend to do better than native ones, thus increasing future fire risk. Fire “has generally been shown to decrease the abundance of native woody plants because nonnative, invasive, fire-adapted plants out-compete natives for resources in the post-fire environment and tend to dominate post-fire communities,” according to a United States Forest Service review.

[terrible-eel]

I had just posted two new links of events occurring on Maui but I need to highlight a very specific situation happening right now.

Maui has another harbor, Ma'alaea, where a lot of two and three story boats are docked. They exist for tourists to go snorkeling and whale watching. They go on usually two cruises a day. Some go as far as the neighboring islands. These boats have the capacity to go to Lahaina and back probably 4 to 6 times. But instead of shipping over supplies to the local families who are trapped in West Maui, because the American Military won't let them leave and won't bring them supplies, these boats are taking tourists out to snorkel in Lahaina, right near the fire.

In contrast, people have created makeshift long boats and kanoes and piled supplies in them and are taking them out by jetskis to the private docks in Lahaina. These boats are 3 to 5 times smaller and can only bring in so many supplies at a time. People need to understand that the crisis does not stop with the fires. The humanitarian crisis starts and ends with the local people who are experiencing the parasite that is tourism. Write to the Governor of Hawai'i. Tell them that there needs to be changes to ecological laws. Tell them to crack down on tourism. Offer advice, ways to better the economy without tourism. Tell people to stop behaving like these tourists and money hungry business owners.

This video is an example of a tourist boat.

And this video is an example of what the supply boats look like.

This is a list of gofundmes and other donations to individuals who need aid!

Please if nothing else share this in every way you can.

[mindblowingscience]

After a catastrophic wildfire that killed more than 100 people in Hawaii, eyes have turned toward an unexpected culprit: invasive grass species that have spread massively over the archipelago for decades, serving as the perfect fuel. Drought-resistant, capable of invading difficult terrain, and gradually muscling out local species, they are also a growing threat in the western United States, where devastating fires are increasing. "Invasive grasses are very ignitable. They change the landscape," Carla D'Antonio, a professor of ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara told AFP. "They make conditions that are more conducive to more fire, and all of a sudden, we just have a lot more fire."

Continue Reading.

[liberalsarecool]

Restore the Green New Deal promise of public land and water use. Colonizers have taken and exploited too much for too long.

[whyireadsomuch]

https://wapo.st/45CjaRR

Fascinating and heartbreaking article about the akikiki birds that are close to extinction who were bravely defended from the fires in Hawaii. It’s a gift link, so you should be able to read the whole thing.

Please spread the word about this and help everybody in Hawaii if you can—both people and birds!

[darklinespectra]

Please read and reblog this post. The town of Lahaina on the island of Maui has been devastated by a wildfire. It's not just Lahaina; other areas on Maui are without food and water, and there is no cell service.

Over 2,000 buildings have been destroyed and the current fatality count is 115 people; "The increase in deaths, up from 80 on Friday, means the disaster is the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century. 'It’s going to continue to rise, I’m going to brace people for that,' Green [the governor of Hawaii] said, at a news conference" (https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/13/live-governor-maui-county-hold-news-conference-with-latest-wildfire-response/).

Here are some reputable places you can donate to help the victims:

Please keep the people of Maui in your thoughts. Visitors have homes they can return to, but thousands of residents have lost their homes and many people have lost loved ones.

This post will continue to be updated.

[ireton]

Hawaii - "Government Officials Contradict Own Citizens" Accounts on Maui Fire Disaster.

7 Nov 2023 In the aftermath of the devastating August fire that claimed over 100 lives in Lahaina, Maui, an independent journalist partnered with Project Veritas to investigate the claims of Lahaina residents who shared their water and electricity was not functioning on the morning of the deadly fire. This journalist held meetings with multiple representatives from the Maui mayor’s office and the governor's office, all of whom clung to the official narrative that the water supply had not been interrupted. As the historic town of Lahaina continues to grapple with the devastating aftermath of these fires, community members continue to raise questions about the government’s emergency response.