It’s been more than two months since wildfires broke out across Hawaii, and some families are just now able to begin the cleanup and rebuilding process.
At least 98 people were killed, and more than a dozen people remain missing in the West Maui town of Lahaina. Over 2,000 structures were destroyed – many of them homes and apartments. Crosses are displayed at a public memorial to wildfire victims on Oct. 5, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Two months later, the Kirkman family is now living in California and still processing the trauma that unfolded. "Not all of Maui is destroyed, of course. So please, there are people that are in the tourist industry that need to work, and those that want to come to Hawaii," she said. But Kirkman noted how "you can't really do anything in Lahaina right now… Give people the space."
Shiroma also remains hopeful that the spirit of "ohana" – a Hawaiian term meaning family – is alive and well on the island in the midst of tragedy. , even in the midst of just everyday life, there's always a sense of ohana. So you may not necessarily know someone very well, but if you see someone on the street that is hungry and , ‘Auntie, sister, you know, uncle, come; come eat,’ – I know that's going on over there.
"What's also going to need to be top of mind is asbestos, or the lead, or the arsenic that's in the ash, in the smoke and in the dust that's still at these sites," Sean Marchese with the Mesothelioma Center told LiveNOW from FOX. . As those materials age – or burn – they release toxic asbestos fibers into the air and out to sea.
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