Much of the historic town of Lahaina has been “destroyed,” officials said, and the inferno has burned thousands of residential and commercial buildings to the ground.
Devastating wildfires that erupted on the Hawaiian island of Maui last week have claimed the lives of at least 96 people. Many more are still missing, according to authorities. Officials on Maui have said that the death toll is expected to rise as they work to contain the active blazes and assess the damage.
The blazes erupted on Aug. 8 and spread rapidly due to very dry conditions stemming from a drought combined with powerful winds. Much of the historic town of Lahaina has been “destroyed,” officials said, and the inferno has burned thousands of residential and commercial buildings to the ground.
Stephanie Evans, a Lahaina resident and mother of two whose family lost their home to the wildfires, spoke to ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze about what led up to her family’s escape and how the community has rallied around each other in its aftermath.
ELIZABETH SHULZE: As we heard, residents are now being allowed to return to their properties there. Will you go? How are you preparing for what you might see?
STEPHANIE EVANS: I think I decided I am going to go today. They open the road at noon, which is in like 30 minutes. I’m just nervous. I know there’s nothing left but ashes. But I left my cats there, so I just want to go back and see if they’re around.
SHULZE: If you can, and I can’t imagine the pain you feel right now, but can you take us through the past couple of days for you, to Tuesday night when those fires broke out? When did you realize you needed to evacuate? How fast did everything happen?
EVANS: You know, it was crazy because that morning, they had said the fires were contained. We smelled smoke.
