Maui residents are rebuilding Lahaina for locals, not tourists: ‘In Hawaii, we take care of one another’

A volunteer with Lahaina Strong sets up lights on a protest sign at Kaanapali beach in Lahaina, Hawaii, on 16 December 2023. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

In March, Hawaii was hit with two back-to-back storms, bringing the worst flooding it’s seen in 20 years. In Lahaina, Maui, muddy flood waters turned streets into rivers and carved new paths through the barren landscape, breaking open roads and flooding houses. In their wake, sinkholes appeared, engulfing cars.

This is nearly three years after the deadliest wildfires in US history ravaged Lahaina, destroying more than 2,000 structures and killing more than 100 people. Hundreds of affected households are still in temporary housing. Poverty, unemployment and housing instability, rife before the fires, have only worsened.