*Disclaimer - may be graphic for some to read - read at your own risk*

Aloha Everyone,

Some of you might be aware if you're in the United States... but there was a massive fire in Lāhaina, Maui on August 8, 2023. Lāhaina is my hometown. It was a traumatic day for me, my family, and the entire Lāhaina community.

If you don't know, Hurricane Dora passed the Hawaiian Islands and caused gale force winds in Lāhaina. That caused power outage for 12 hours. And a fire started a block behind my home and, due to the gale force winds, the fire spread so fast and it was uncontrollable in minutes. It took over my house and my neighborhood in less than an hour. Due to the winds, the black smoke was parallel to the ground, causing embers to fall along the entire Lāhaina town and spark new fires on businesses and people's homes. The fire was out of control fast. The firefighters could do nothing but watch our beloved and historic town go up in flames in 3 hours. About 300 homes were burned to ashes. Businesses gone. Harbor and boats that could get out in time, gone. Everything... gone. No electricity, no cell service, cut off from the outside world.

As for me and my family, since our house was right next to the fire, we grabbed what we could and ran. I only had the clothes on my back and an extra pair, along with my electronics, jewelry and money. We didn't have time to think about everything we might need. The smoke turned black in ten minutes of starting, signaling it was burning a home. So we got in a car and evacuated like the rest of the entire neighborhoods. Traffic was backed up. We got rerouted onto dirt roads and, being on an island where I'm born and raised, I had family out north of Lāhaina that wasn't on fire. So I took my grandmother out to my aunty's with me. My family was safe out there. My brother, sister, mom... my immediate family were all safe out there. We had generators, running water, food and shelter, so we're okay. The next day, with no communication, it was insane how isolated we felt. No one knew what was going on, if people were going to save us and get us out to the other side of the island. But I ended up leaving and drove around to the other side of the island where everything was fine. Crazy how one mountain can isolate people who are in need and have no communication to the outside world.

Once we got out, my phone blew up with friends and family begging me to be alive and to call them. So I had to deal with 158 texts. On top of calls. It was overwhelming, to say the least, to see how many people reached out after seeing the news and knowing I lived in Lāhaina. No one knew if their loved ones survived because we didn't have cell service. So I had to assure my family outside that my family inside were safe and they had food, water, shelter, but chose to stay in their homes in Lāhaina.

There have been a lot of personal stories I've been hearing from my mom, who was alone running for her life without a car in the town, and I've been hearing things from other community members and family who survived. Some people chose to stay and either fight for their homes or die with it. Many people are still missing. National guard, coast guard, police... they're all still doing body recoveries. There's over 60 confirmed deaths so far, people being pulled out of cars or out of the ocean as they tried to swim for their lives. The fire came so fast that all they could do was jump into the ocean and swim out to sea, but those who couldn't swim ended up drowning or tired themselves out. My mom recorded herself running through the streets, telling people to run for their lives, asking God to save them. People were screaming, running with their children in shopping carts trying to get away from the fast-moving fire, a man on a bike- his jacket caught fire from the falling embers and they couldn't put it out so he burned in front of them. It literally was like an apocalyptic movie. It still is as video and photos are coming out with how the town looks. Cars abandoned in the middle of the street as if people abandoned them to run on foot or jump in the ocean. Bodies were found in cars, burned. A friend of mine found their missing family members in their burned cars.

It has been a hard, sad, challenging 4 days for me, my family and the Lāhaina community. Once we got out, we weren't allowed back in because the fire was still active the next day. And the road opened back up to allow residents to come in. These past few days, I've just been trying to figure things out and figure out how to help my family that I saved while also figuring out how to help my family who chose to stay in Lāhaina.

I lost my home, as I expected because of how close the fire was. My grandma, dad and myself lost everything. We didn't have time to grab much. We only grabbed important documents, money... and left. So I've been trying to get back into Lāhaina to salvage what I can because people are starting to loot homes. People are getting arrested for going over barricades where the officials haven't checked for bodies yet, contaminating the crime scene. It's crazy here. On the outside, the entire island wants to help so everyone is buying out stores for essential things, nonperishable food and clothing. But getting the supplies to the other side of the island has been a task. And now that residents are allowed in and out, my family is shopping for essentials and there's barely anything to buy since it's all gone. There's not much communication as to where to pick up those donations. Maui is just chaos. And to add to the tourists who were also evacuated and flown out of Maui without their belongings. Some tourists are still entering Maui as if they don't watch the bloody news that's telling people NOT to come, leave the island's limited food and resources to the islanders.

It's insane.

So... all that being said... I wanted to write this out while I have a little bit of downtime between my chaotic days, and my mind isn't as chaotic as it has been. I just wanted to update everyone with what's been happening in my current life. This will obviously affect my story update. Since I lost my home and am staying with family until insurance can find us temporary housing... and then trying to rebuild not only my home but the entire town... I'm not sure when things will be back to "normal" for me and for the community. I'm just getting by day by day. I haven't processed the loss, I haven't taken time to take care of me... but that's okay. My priority is for my family and others who have needs and who also lost their home.

Thank you all for being so supportive. I know I haven't updated in a while. I have been writing the next chapter (Inu's birthday) slowly... but now it's on halt for who knows how long. I hope that you can be understanding. I will try to update once I get temporary housing and my family has their feet on the ground. We are raising money to rebuild and to keep us steady. I need to buy me new clothes and everything basic. But I can come later. I'm not worried about me. So I hope you guys don't worry about me. I'm okay. My family is okay. And that's a blessing!

My love to you all!

-Kaleialohalani