On the 11th local time, according to the Maui County government of Hawaii, the death toll caused by the Maui Island fire rose to 80.
Screenshot of CCTV news report
Chinese tourists experience Hawaiian wildfires: 80% of famous attractions were engulfed and tens of thousands of people were evacuated from the island
The U.S. island of Maui, Hawaii, which has been swept by wildfires, is suffering from the deadliest natural disaster in history. Tens of thousands of tourists at the resort were once disconnected from the outside world due to communication outages, stranded on the island for several days and evacuated.
According to Xinhua News Agency, on August 8, local time, a number of wildfires broke out on Maui, and the fire spread rapidly due to the impact of the hurricane, and the area of fire has exceeded 2,000 acres (about 800 hectares).
Judging from the images taken by several tourists, Lahaina, Maui, one of the hard-hit areas, was almost unrecognizable, and the scene was like a "war zone". In the past, the town was a historic town and a well-known seaside resort. Hawaii Governor Jasse Green lamented, "80% of Lahaina has 'disappeared.'" ”
In the past few days, a number of Chinese tourists who have experienced wildfires on vacation on Maui have told Chao News about escaping from strong winds and approaching flames, "I don't want to believe that overnight, the coastal town was reduced to ashes and wreckage." ”
Photos released Aug. 10 in Maui County, Hawaii, show extensive damage from wildfires. Image source: Xinhua News Agency
Chinese tourists evacuated from hardest-hit areas Tens of thousands of tourists were evacuated
"The entire street of buildings was almost burned down." On August 11, Beijing time, Ms. Xu, a Chinese tourist on vacation in Maui, evacuated from her hotel to the airport, and she saw through the town of Lahaina that houses, cars, etc. along the coast had been burned into empty shells, some concrete and stone walls were still standing, and residents seemed to have lost everything.
Her hands were shaking slightly when she raised her mobile phone to take pictures, and she heard the evacuee residents say, "I was woken up by thick smoke in my sleep, and because of the rapid fire, I ran out of the house and found that I had no time to escape, so I jumped directly into the sea." She couldn't believe that the beauty was instantly reduced to ashes in the fire, and the once famous "vacation paradise" was so vulnerable.
The wreckage left behind, wisps of smoke still emanating, look extremely desolate against the backdrop of the turquoise blue seascape. This scene made it hard for all those who vacationed and lived in Maui to believe, but it really happened.
Xiao Wan, a tourist from Jiangsu, recalled that her stay at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on the northwest side of Maui on August 7 was already abnormal. Her room was on the upper floors of the hotel, and she heard the wind whistling and almost blowing the glass window apart. At the same time, the mobile phone once again popped up the alarm, "The wind is relatively strong, which will affect the safety of life and property." ”
Maui Emergency Management Agency issues evacuation order Photo courtesy of interviewee
Xiao Wan saw that the wind speed was 25 mph (equivalent to a Category 6 wind). What many tourists did not expect was that the largest wildfire in Hawaii's history, Hurricane Dora, exacerbated the wildfire, tourists staying in the hotel can see the fire line approaching, the wildfire illuminates the night sky red.
Wildfires at night Photo courtesy of interviewee
One of the worst-hit areas, Lahaina, is located on the west coast of Maui, just a 20-minute drive from Ms. Xu's hotel. Early on the morning of the 8th local time, Ms. Xu found that the hotel had no power outage, and then received a notice from the hotel staff, "The power pole was destroyed by a wildfire." ”
Similarly, Wan suffered a power outage at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in northwest Maui. When she went out in the morning, she saw that the police were closing the road, many power poles on the side of the road were blown down by the wind, and trees were even uprooted. In addition, many people line up in front of supermarkets to stock up on food. Until more than four o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th, the mobile phone showed no signal.
Maui under a hurricane Photo courtesy of interviewee
Green has publicly stated that "telecommunications were rapidly destroyed," which meant that communities could not alert each other over the phone, as they normally do in emergencies. Ms. Xu told Chao News reporter, "At that time, most tourists thought it was temporary, and it will recover soon. However, on the afternoon of the 8th, the hotel notified again that the situation was very serious. ”
At this time, many tourists began to panic, and after mutual information, they rushed to the civilian airport with the signal, sent a message to their families through only one or two blocks of signals to report that they were safe, but completely lost contact with the outside world after leaving. The situation did not improve in the following days, and the hotel provided free emergency mobile phone chargers, water and food for visitors.
Chao News reporters learned that the uncontrolled wildfires on Maui, Hawaii, have caused the paralysis of electricity, water, network and transportation, and many tourists' original vacation plans have ended in a hurry. According to Xinhua, about 1,700 buildings in the town of Lahaina were burned and thousands of people needed temporary shelter. According to the news released by Maui County, more than 1,300 residents and tourists of Maui spent the night in emergency shelters on the evening of the 9th, and about 1,400 people spent the night at the airport.
A number of well-known Internet celebrity attractions were affected by the disaster, and the price of air tickets has been reduced by 80%
Images taken by tourists show that the Maui wildfires transformed the area from a beautiful home to a hellish scene of ashes in less than 24 hours.
Public information shows that the affected town of Lahaina has many historical sites, covering almost the entire history of Hawaii. The town accounts for about 80% of Maui's total tourism revenue each year and will deal a huge blow to Hawaii and Maui's pillar industry, tourism.
In addition, the area where the well-known local Internet celebrity breakfast restaurant is located is blocked, and tourists regret that they cannot drive to it. Early in the morning of August 8, local time, Xiao Wan originally planned to drive to the breakfast restaurant for dinner, but found that the road to the restaurant was only accessible to vehicles.
The map shows that the Kihei Caffe Lahaina branch of the Internet celebrity breakfast restaurant is close to the wildfire, and the store information shows that it is closed. Voted "Maui's Best Breakfast" for ten consecutive years, this company offers more than 40 breakfast categories and is a must-see for tourists, according to several tourists.
The magistrate of Maui County said in an interview with CCTV News, "I can think of the closest metaphor, maybe it is like a war zone or a bomb exploded." Many local people felt the same way: "I am shocked. It really looks like a ghost town" "Everything around is destroyed, it's like a war zone" ...
At 9 a.m. US time on the 9th, Xiaowan evacuated from Hului Airport, she saw that there were more stranded tourists, and she could only rely on the airport signal to buy a ticket at 15 o'clock that day, and waited at the airport for 7 hours.
On August 10, local time, tourists waiting at the airport. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Xiaowan found out at the airport that American Airlines had added many flights at Maui and set ultra-low prices. "As long as $19 includes two pieces of baggage, you can transfer to either Hawaii Island, which is equivalent to an 80% reduction in the total price, which used to cost $30 for one bag."
According to the news released by the Hawaii Tourism Bureau on the afternoon of the 10th, more than 14,000 people were evacuated from Maui on the 9th, and about 14,500 people were expected to evacuate on the 10th, "They choose to go home or go to other Hawaiian islands for vacation." On August 12, a Chao News reporter checked the booking platform and showed that from August 12 to 31, 97% of accommodations on Maui were not bookable.
Local underestimation of the deadly threat of wildfires Reconstruction could require billions of dollars
Anne (pseudonym), an overseas Chinese who works in the tourism industry in Maui, is busy collecting supplies for stranded residents after seeing off tourists. She told Chao News that Hawaii has many tourists all year round, and June to August is the peak tourist season. The wildfires have caused many tourists to cancel hotel reservations, impacting local tourism.
Accommodation resources in Hawaii have always been tight, and Anne worries that housing for residents who have lost their homes or been evacuated is a problem. Later, she read the news and learned that residents were housed in gymnasiums, community centers and churches; Evacuated tourists were resettled to other Hawaiian islands.
Since this summer, about 288,000 tourists have come to Maui for vacation. Its most famous tourist mecca is the Haleakala Crater. In addition, there is a 150-year-old banyan tree, which is known as "the world's largest banyan tree", and many tourists will rush to take photos.
Xinhua News Agency quoted Maui County as reporting that as of the morning of the 10th local time, 80% of the wildfires in Lahaina Town have been controlled, 70% of the other two wildfires on Maui have been controlled, and the other control status is still to be assessed. Maui was hit hard by three wildfires.
"Part of the burning area is in central Maui and is full of hills and canyons that make it difficult for firefighters to enter." Anne told Chao News. Regarding the fire, Green bluntly said that although it will take time to understand the full damage, there is no doubt that the damage will be in the billions of dollars. It took a long time to rebuild the town of Lahaina, and almost all the buildings needed to be rebuilt.
On August 11, local time, US President Biden said on his public social account, "The federal government not only prays to the people of Hawaii, but also provides all the resources they need." We are increasing aid, resources, and staffing, and will help the state recover as much as possible. ”
The National Weather Service also issued a warning on the 7th, "The vegetation surface is very dry, coupled with strong winds and low humidity, which will create a great fire risk on the night of the 8th." "The immediate cause of wildfires has not been identified, but strong winds, low-humidity environments and arid vegetation all add to the damage of wildfires.
According to Xinhua News Agency, as of 13:00 local time on the 11th, the wildfire has killed at least 67 people. The Maui wildfire has become the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, and the number of deaths is likely to rise further.
Source: CCTV News Client, Chao News/Wu Yue Yang Zihan