Last Wednesday, a day after the wildfires, the county asked visitors to leave Lahaina and the island as a whole as soon as possible.
Officials soon urged people to avoid the island entirely, except for essential travel. “In the days and weeks ahead, our collective resources and attention must be focused on the recovery of residents and communities that were forced to evacuate,” the Hawaii Tourism Authority said.
Many travellers heeded the advice. In the immediate aftermath of the fires, some 46,000 people left the island.
But thousands did not. Some ignored requests to leave Maui immediately, while others flew in after the fire - decisions that have angered some.
“If this was happening to your hometown, would you want us to come?” said resident Chuck Enomoto. “We need to take care of our own first.”
It’s one thing to have an industry shift (which also sucks), but it’s another thing to be colonised, have some of your islands bought and almost completely owned by rich folk, who can do whatever they fuck with them and having to feel like a tenant in your ancestors’ lands.
There’s one hell of a difference and I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually had an IRA situation there.