Lahaina fire?

[tursiops]

I would not donate to Red Cross. They have a history of fundraising using current disasters, but not using the money for that.

The Red Cross CEO Has Been Serially Misleading About Where Donors’ Dollars Are Going

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

www.propublica.org

 

[Marie13]

The Red Cross CEO Has Been Serially Misleading About Where Donors’ Dollars Are Going

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

www.propublica.org

I remember there was a big story within the last 10 years, maybe on 60 Minutes, that thr RC used the photo taken of a woman in the ruins of her home destroyed in a California wildfire for fundraising. The woman in the photo was very surprised her photo was used ans she had no knowledge of it. That piece talked about how the RC would fundraise for current disasters, but not using the money raised for that event.

I donated to the Salvation Army. They put their money where their mouth is and their leaders do not have exorbitant salaries.

 

[covediver]

Just saw a facebook post from Extended Horizons. their staff is ok but the boat and shop are a total loss. I really liked that operation when I was on Maui a few years back. So sad for all involved.

 

[covediver]

The Red Cross CEO Has Been Serially Misleading About Where Donors’ Dollars Are Going

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

www.propublica.org

I like to donate to the local Salvation Army relief fund. Low overhead, local connections, dedicated people.

 

[Regulated]

Harmony and Dillon from Dive with Harmony have confirmed that they have lost their shop in the fire, and basically their business is gone. Of course theirs is just one of many stories like this coming out of the tragedy in Lahaina, but if you have a connection with them, as we do, please consider checking out this fundraiser for them. All of my kids have done training with them, and they really earn the positive reviews they've gotten from divers here and around the world.

spotfund

Yes, can confirm, so sad. My buddy and I dove with Harmony on Sunday morning and toured the new shop in Lahaina where she kindly rinsed our gear. Two state of the art compressors and lots of Avelo and other gear. Really nice, now gone. We dove Black Rock with Dillon on Monday night (that morning was with Island Style on the boat). Tuesday the winds kicked up and the fire roared through. Thank the Lord they are physically OK. Two of our very favorite diving people. Kind, genuine and hardworking.

Now their livelihood is gone. Please help if you can. See link in quoted post.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I would not donate to Red Cross. They have a history of fundraising using current disasters, but not using the money for that.

I'm not sure that's the right reason. (High overhead is a better reason not to donate.)

Disaster relief needs to spend money immediately, not wait for fundraisers to happen. Perhaps think of it as a loan being repaid.
On the other hand, big disasters draw donations, little disasters don't.

Red Cross might use big disasters so they can also help with the little ones. Or put another way, if this wildfire had hit Ellensburg, Washington, where not many folks vacation, would it draw the same donor base? Yet Red Cross will still help there.

Still, I'd rather donate locally or even to a particular fund. (E.g., re-build historic building X in Lahaina, or re-house poor folks who can't afford to re-build the family home that burned.)

 

[SmashMonkey]

Before we evacuated Kaanapali last Thursday, we had very limited info about the situation around us.

Tues 6 am 80 mph winds knock out power to West Maui.

Tue 4 pm: brush fires cut off highway access in/out and at about the same time, cell and internet go down inside West Maui.

Tue night/Wed AM: the brush fire reaches the town and jumps the highway into downtown Lahaina. From talking to local residents there was no evacuation warning, no sirens/horns. The only notice they got was when their neighborhood caught fire and there were people in the streets yelling to get out. Exit from West Maui via the highway is not possible because of fire and/or downed power lines. The only route out is the treacherous narrow twisty northern cliff hugging road (single lane in some areas).

Wed: State of Hawaii begins evacuating all visitors in West Maui with buses.

Recovery and relief is complicated because there's only 1 highway in/out, fires are still burning (refueling depot caught fire on Friday), limited power, limited communications, tap water is unsafe, the town is a dangerous/biohazard search and recovery zone. A lot of people want to get into the disaster zone to look for their 1,400 - 1,500 missing loved ones. I think estimate is 80% fire damage is to residential areas.

I hope Lahaina Divers and the other dive ops are able to rebuild. We had some great dives with them last week. The attached photo highlights the slip where the 2 LD boats were docked. In the background is marked where their building used to be.

 

[OMGinger]

So sad to see. I dove with Extended Horizons a few years ago and their passion for diving and conservation really stuck with me all these years. I really looked forward to diving with them again sometime but their shop and ship are a total loss, I hope they're able to recover.

There is a fundraiser link on their instagram site.

 

[Regulated]

Before we evacuated Kaanapali last Thursday, we had very limited info about the situation around us.

Tues 6 am 80 mph winds knock out power to West Maui.

Tue 4 pm: brush fires cut off highway access in/out and at about the same time, cell and internet go down inside West Maui.

Tue night/Wed AM: the brush fire reaches the town and jumps the highway into downtown Lahaina. From talking to local residents there was no evacuation warning, no sirens/horns. The only notice they got was when their neighborhood caught fire and there were people in the streets yelling to get out. Exit from West Maui via the highway is not possible because of fire and/or downed power lines. The only route out is the treacherous narrow twisty northern cliff hugging road (single lane in some areas).

Wed: State of Hawaii begins evacuating all visitors in West Maui with buses.

Recovery and relief is complicated because there's only 1 highway in/out, fires are still burning (refueling depot caught fire on Friday), limited power, limited communications, tap water is unsafe, the town is a dangerous/biohazard search and recovery zone. A lot of people want to get into the disaster zone to look for their 1,400 - 1,500 missing loved ones. I think estimate is 80% fire damage is to residential areas.

I hope Lahaina Divers and the other dive ops are able to rebuild. We had some great dives with them last week. The attached photo highlights the slip where the 2 LD boats were docked. In the background is marked where their building used to be.

Exactly so. In Honokawai (between Ka’anapali and Kahana), we were in an information and power blackout on Tuesday and Wednesday. The only weak cell signal was at the seawall, presumably from Molokai. Barely enough to text or call; no internet. Relatives and friends back home were seeing the horrific images, while those of us upwind from the fire were unaware of the extent of the disaster. The local authorities also did a poor job of informing management at the larger properties of the situation.

Southwest Airlines appeared to expedite calls from Maui to get agents on the phone. My buddy and I evacuated on Thursday. The drive through Lahaina was shocking. It was an apocalyptic scene.

Many died in the path of the fast-moving flames in Lahaina. A shift in the wind could have made this even worse in terms of loss of life to the north.

Our friends at Dive with Harmony, and the other West Maui dive operators, have lost their livelihood. Please support them in any way you can. DWH has a page on spotfund.com.

 

[Jake 10]