Firsthand accounts reveal two different stories: One of Native Hawaiian locals who faced loss and limited resources and another of tourists who left the devastation behind.
When Ryan Cabrera, a 37-year-old Native Hawaiian who lives in Lahaina, found himself surrounded by smoke on Tuesday, Aug. 8, he grabbed his daughter’s hand and just ran. Long term, he knew he lost everything in an afternoon. In the immediate aftermath, he didn’t know where his family would sleep that night.
Ryan Cabrera, who is Native Hawaiian, described fleeing from the fires with his daughter, losing his home and not knowing where his family would sleep., with numbers expected to rise. Officials have begun identifying the dead, releasing two names — Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, both of Lahaina — thus far. Many others remain missing.
I think the biggest worry was when we have bodies in that ocean that still had not been discovered, and for us to see them snorkeling when we still haven’t retrieved all our dead — that was hard.“I was covered in dirt, ashes, my eyes, my mouth, everything. I was just so thirsty,” Cabrera, who entered a hotel in search of water, said. “And there were hundreds of tourists drinking, having fun and not even caring.
Pakalana Phillips lived in a multigenerational household of eight in Lahaina and described losing her relative to the wildfires.Phillips, who had left her home earlier that same Tuesday, said her uncle, one of eight in the household, had stayed behind. He was on the phone with her mother-in-law as flames surrounded their house.An emotional Phillips said she has been mourning her uncle’s death while dealing with “survivor’s remorse.
Using a high-status membership with United Airlines, they booked a flight for that same afternoon, and Wang sent his nephew, sister-in-law, mother-in-law and two kids home.
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