A year after Maui wildfire, chronic housing shortage and pricey vacation rentals complicate recovery
Thousands of displaced residents on Maui have faced a year of anxious uncertainty since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century devastated Lahaina
By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA and AUDREY McAVOY
Published - Aug 04, 2024, 12:46 AM ET
Last Updated - Aug 04, 2024, 12:46 AM EDT
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Josephine Fraser worried her young family's next home would be a tent.
Fraser and her partner, their two sons and their dog had moved nine times in as many months, from one hotel room to another, since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century razed her hometown of Lahaina, on Maui. They would sometimes get just 24 hours to relocate, with no immediate word where they were headed.
Now, the Red Cross was warning that the hotel shelter program would soon end and Fraser was having trouble explaining to her 3-year-old why they couldn't just go home.
“He just kept asking, ‘Why?’" she said. "It really broke me.”
