While our world locally marches forward in a seemingly normal manner, for friends and family on Maui that same world has been turned upside down.
I remember the post-‘Iniki days. I remember living without electricity for months, the National Guard bringing around the MRIs, and standing in long lines waiting patiently with cooler in hand for ice.
I remember the fear of losing both my business and my home, and moving my family of four in with my brother and his family of four plus my wife’s parents and her sister — 11 of us living in a three-bedroom house.
I remember going through my half destroyed home, salvaging photos and personal mementos — praying that I had paid the insurance bill. I remember the checks that used to come in the mail and our jobs that had sustained us comfortably were all gone.
I remember wondering if our lives would ever return to normal again.
Sadly, for far too many of our friends on Maui, normal will never return.
Take the ‘Iniki experience and multiply it by 1,000 and maybe it starts to approach the trauma that is the Maui disaster.
The people of Maui are strong, resilient, and possess a shared spirit of aloha that will in the end carry the day. But we must help them, just as they stepped up to help us following ‘Iniki.
We must help and support our friends, and honor the many acts of heroism that have occurred and have yet to occur. Think for a moment of those firefighters who may have also lost their own homes and yet continue even today — exhausted, overwhelmed, and no doubt disappointed they could not have done more.
And, yes, we must learn the lessons as best we can from this terrible disaster to ensure it never ever happens again.
There are many nonprofit organizations and the county, state and federal governments all stepping up in various capacities, but the task at hand is formidable. We must also dig deep and help our brothers and sisters on the Valley Island.
The Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund is one organization that deserves our support: https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong.
Please help if you can.
We who do not live on Maui must send them our support and our prayers, but also keep on keeping on with the regular business of the day. Unfortunately, the multitude of ongoing issues and local challenges do not step aside and wait patiently while attention is focused on the disaster, the sadness, and the hardship.
But for today, it’s Maui on our mind.
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Gary Hooser served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Counci. He presently writes on Hawaii Policy and Politics at www.garyhooser.blog.
