Does anyone know if Eric and his family are okay? I don’t know which island is lives on. Hope everyone is safe.
Steve
He said yes a couple days ago
He’s on the east coast of Oahu, in Kailua, a long way from Lahaina. Different island!
Thank for the info. Glad they are okay.
Sorry everyone for my silence. My computer conked out, and I cannot type worth a hoot on my tablet.
In short, yes, we are thankfully safe. Maui is about a 30 minute plane ride from here, so the fires were unlikely to reach us. We do get wild fires on Oahu, but they are generally on the drier, leeward coast. Luckily, we were spared.
CINCHOUSE still has very distant family on Maui, as it was the island where most of her family arrived to work the plantations over a century ago. She has not heard from that remote branch of the family tree in decades, but their last know area of residence was spared. Still, we have neighbors and coworkers with Maui ties, and the impacts have ranged from “close call” to “lost everything.” Local news is full of stories of near escapes, and a co-worker’s family has collected some truly hair-raising stories from their network of friends and cousins. The fires were of such intensity, that we will probably never know the true human cost of the flames, and many of the victims will have only their family’s hearts as headstones, as there will simply be no remains to recover.
In the event someone is looking to help, be advised:
1.Scammers are already in action.
2. Legitimate charities may have no footprint or partner on Maui and may be unable to assess real needs or effectively distribute your donations.
3. Other charities may lack permissions or skillsets to operate effectively.
Any donations should go through a local charity or a national one with a pre-established Maui presence to maximize their impacts. Remember, virtually all goods transit via Oahu, so see what the charity needs. Otherwise, it will sit in a container awaiting transshipment or fill an airplane’s cargo hull for limited immediate impact.
The list below is from the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii, to which our church belongs, and it lists a number of faith-based, non-governmental, and governmental organizations that are poised to help and already in action on the ground:
I understand the Catholic Diocese has a similar list of vetted charities, to include its own, and I am sure other major religious and secular organizations do as well.
Thanks again for your kind concern! Please redirect it to Maui, where flames still burn and families still wait.
Eric
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