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According to comprehensive US media reports, August 8 marked the first anniversary of the Maui wildfire in Hawaii, and local residents are still displaced and their lives are far from returning to normal. The local community and tourism industry have also suffered a huge blow.

According to the Associated Press, Josephine Fraser's family has moved nine times because of the fire. Fraser said that the children always ask why they can't go home, "It really breaks my heart." In May, Fraser and her family moved into a modular house in a community that is still a dusty construction site.

On August 13, 2023 local time, Lahaina on Maui Island in Hawaii, USA was almost razed to the ground, and the former resort town "no longer exists."

Thousands of people on Maui are reportedly facing a year of anxiety and uncertainty since the fire broke out on August 8, 2023. The fire has displaced at least 12,000 people.

The report said that although the government and non-profit organizations have provided some temporary solutions for people, Maui's previous reliance on tourism and the real estate market dominated by vacation rentals made it difficult for survivors to find a long-term residence.

Work on temporary housing developments has also been slowed by the difficulty of cleaning up toxic debris, long distances to obtain materials, and the difficulty of blasting and leveling volcanic rock and installing water pipes and electrical wires.

According to Axios, a US news website, many fire survivors still do not have permanent housing to live in. A recent survey found that 6 out of 10 people have moved at least 3 times since the fire broke out.

Job shortages have also caused people to leave Maui. Bloomberg reported that according to the Maui Economic Development Committee, the uncertainty caused by the fire has caused the island to lose nearly $1 billion in revenue. The island has always relied on tourism, and 70% of every $1 in local economic income comes from tourism.

According to a report on fire survivors, nearly half of Maui residents said their financial situation has worsened since the fire, and the vast majority of respondents said they were more worried about Hawaii's future than hopeful.

According to previous reports, this fire, the deadliest in the United States in more than a century, began on August 8, 2023, killing nearly 100 people and destroying more than 2,000 buildings. The seaside resort town of Lahaina, with a population of about 13,000, was almost reduced to ruins.

source:China News Service