More trauma for Lahaina fire victims as they shuffle around in Maui hotels

By Kristen Consillio

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    LAHAINA, Hawaii (KITV) — Hali’i Vierra, mom of two young children, has been living at the Honua Kai hotel in Ka’anapali for the past three months since her family home burned down in Lahaina.

And for the past three months, she’s been fearing this day.

“We just got a call this morning at 10 o’clock that we have to be out by 4 o’clock,” she said.

As thousands of Lahaina fire victims are shuffled around in hotels across Maui, many of them are suffering from the uncertainty.

“I feel overwhelmed,” Hali’i said. “Nobody likes to talk about anxiety and depression, but it’s real, you know. It’s happening, especially when you have kids you have to care for.”

The American Red Cross ended up helping Hali’i’s family get another room in the same hotel, but she doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to stay there.

“You just feel like you’ve got no control of your life. And people really start to spiral,” added Alfy Basurto, who also lost his home in the fires. “Because you wake up every day (and) you don’t know where you’re going to live.”

More than 6,000 Lahaina residents are still living in hotels, but as more tourists return to the island many of them feel like they’re being pushed out.

“This morning when this kupuna who is in a walker … we were lifting her into a truck and as the truck was pulling away two mustangs were pulling in with tourists that popped out with their cameras,” said Nicole Huguenin, co-director of the Maui Rapid Response community organization. “She was rageful.”

With limited inventory, a solution isn’t easy.

“It’s really expensive on Maui right now,” Basurto said. “It was already expensive, but on the west side, you’re looking at rents at least triple — double and triple.”

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen is calling on the county council to convert some of the thousands of short term vacation rentals on the island into long-term housing.

But for now, fire survivors are reliving the trauma.

“Many people said it’s their fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth. There was one family it was their 11th hotel they’re being moved to,” Huguenin said. “I’ve seen tears today, I’ve seen absolute pure sadness, I’ve seen confusion.”

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