What Really Happened on Maui - I Was ThereMy story of what happened:
The Strange Maui Fires
A friend called me early on the morning of Tuesday, August 8th and told me he had a strong urge to visit Lahaina that day. Tempting me with lunch at Cool Cats, one of my favorite eateries in Old Lahaina, I said “Okay. Let’s go!”
The 30 minute drive was without incident, without winds, and without any warning advisories. As soon as we reached Lahaina, all power got zapped. Cell phone, internet, traffic lights, GPS, the 911 emergency system (which is never supposed to go down) and the power outage caused every store and shopping mall to immediately close. Nothing was open.
Then the winds came in, bringing with it a rare rainless hurricane with gusts from 60-80mph. Trees became uprooted and branches were coming down everywhere, along with power poles. I heard a crash behind me and where I was less than 30 seconds prior was a crashed and uprooted tree. It was time to get out of there.
No evacuation sirens ever went off that day when the fires began. They failed as well. My friend and I had to escape through the back road going all the way around the island as all traffic was blocked in the other direction. Many might not have known about this back route since GPS was down...
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