When I was planning my blog post topics for August, I considered writing about today being the 64th anniversary of the statehood of Hawaii. I thought the 64th anniversary was a ho-hum time to draw attention to it, so I planned to write about a different subject today.
Then the wildfires erupted on Maui. Fanned by hurricane-force winds, the fires became a raging inferno and in the blink of an eye, at least 1,100 human lives were lost (as 114 deaths have been documented and more then 1,000 people are still unaccounted for as I write this.) Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands of people were left not only homeless but with nowhere to work.
A 200-year-old church sanctuary was destroyed, as well as the local public library – along with everything else in the town of Lahaina.
There is speculation that the fire was sparked by a tree connecting with a power line. However it started, it was fed by low level winds created by Hurricane Dora some 300 miles away and another weather system thousands of miles to the north. The converging wind circulations of the two weather systems created a recipe for disaster.
Should someone or a government agency have seen it coming and issued warnings? That’s not for me to say. This isn’t the time to place blame. The wounds are still too raw. I’m sure the situation is being carefully investigated. I hope the result will be improvements that will give residents and tourists in the future a better chance to evacuate.
Hawaiians should be celebrating the islands’ statehood today, but instead they are in mourning for the lives, beautiful landscape, jobs, history, and property lost in the wildfire.
It’s too early to tell the prognosis of the massive 150-year-old banyan tree on Front Street in Lahaina. I understand it was quite a local landmark.
Lahaina was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which makes the total destruction of the town even more painful and significant.
I’m old enough that I remember when Hawaii became the 50th state in the United States. We heard about it at home and we talked about it at school. It happened during the first week when I was in the first grade. It was a big deal.
Hawaii is 5,000 miles (or 8,000 kilometers) from North Carolina. I didn’t know anyone who had been there on vacation and couldn’t dream in 1959 that I would ever know anyone to do so. Even by the black-and-white photographs we saw, we could tell it was an exotic place of incredible beauty.
Hawaii still holds a mystique for me and probably most Americans in the other 49 states. I don’t expect to ever visit the state, but the photographs of the lush green of the land and azure Pacific Ocean waters on all sides bring the word “paradise” to mind.
A sizeable portion of paradise on Maui got burned beyond recognition just over a week ago. The landscape is changed forever. I’m sure people will rebuild most of the structures that were destroyed, but lives and artefacts cannot be replaced. The history of the place will only live in the hearts and minds of the people who knew the area before the sudden fire.
Since my last blog post
I finally finished formatting The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes except for the introduction through the help of Atticus.io. It was beginning to look like it was only going to be an e-book, but technical difficulties caused by my ignorance were eventually ironed out. My sister and I hope to publish the cookbook on Amazon in paperback as well as for Kindle in November. I’ll let you know when it is available.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to hold your interest this week. I hope it inspires, educates, and entertains you.
Appreciate your friends and relatives, even if they disagree with you politically.
Remember the people of Ukraine and the Island of Maui in Hawaii.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
Very well said Janet for it is such a sad occasion. Incredible how this fire just swept through the entire town and lamentable that so many people lost their lives to the flames. Hawaii, although I have never been there, always seemed to me like some kind of tropical paradise. I used to love watching “Hawaii Five-O” for the scenes of the lush jungles and the mountains. I hope they find the real cause of the fire and the reason why the alarms were not altogether functional because this kind of disaster, if not an act of God, has to be intentional and that must certainly be punished severely. Here in Tenerife (Canary Islands) we’ve also a terrible fire and the authorities just announced that they have found evidence that it was intentional. More and more fires that arise in so many places of the world seem to be the result of people, either intentional or carelessly starting them. The only way that stops is with severe punishment to the criminal perpetrators. Take good care Janet, I hope the weather is getting better in NC. Here we are going through what they are calling the third heat wave with temps in the high 90’s (F.) but we all know it was July and now August, which are always our two hottest months. All the best,
Francis
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Because the trip is a little easier from the left coast, I’ve been to Hawaii a handful of times. Lahaina has one of the most traditional and popular luaus on Maui, so I’ve walked the area and have wonderful memories of the luau. Devastating to think about how little warning they had.
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It’s so sad to witness what has happened to Hawaii by fire.🥺
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My reaction to the devastation in Hawaii has pretty much been shocked disbelief. Not Hawaii! These things don’t happen in paradise.
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Thanks for this look at Hawai’i statehood and the current crisis.vHow sad to lose the historic town.
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Thank you, Francis. They think the fire was possibly started by a tree falling on a power line. The wind then spread the fire like… well, wildfire, as sparks leaped from one location to another. I understood them to say on TV today that the fire moved one mile a minute! There was no way for those people to out run it. I don’t understand why the warning system wasn’t activated. It surely would have saved some of those lives. The power company there is being criticized for not cutting off the electricity as soon as a problem was detected. The number of “missing” was decreased today to 850. Such a staggering number! I truly can’t imagine. The pictures coming out of there are horrible. We are fortunate where I live, but this type of disaster could happen anywhere. The weather is hot here again/still. Tomorrow is predicted to be the hottest day of the summer… so far. But, yes, we know this is what happens in July and August. My best, Janet
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Yes, I cannot imagine such devastation and how quickly it happened. It has to be difficult to comprehend this about a beautiful place you’ve visited and enjoyed so much.
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It is so very sad, Laleh. And all the wildfires in Canada sadden me, too. So much beautiful forestland and so much wildlife being lost.
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I know. It’s difficult to imagine even after seeing the pictures. After having been surrounded by the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, I know the pictures we’re seeing don’t do it justice.
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It’s so very sad. I can’t imagine that much fire and how frightening it was for the victims and the survivors.
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All the best Janet.
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It’s devastating 🥺
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A lovely post with great sensitivity on such a sad moment that will never be just a moment. So much damage.
So happy your book is under control. I am still struggling with formatting but will keep on going.
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Thank you, Barbara. Formatting is maddening. I hope things will soon start going smoother for you.
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