Althouse: "Many children were left with grandparents and great aunts and uncles while parents... worked, making escape even more challenging. In many cases... the very young and the very old died together."

August 19, 2023

"Many children were left with grandparents and great aunts and uncles while parents... worked, making escape even more challenging. In many cases... the very young and the very old died together."

From "A couple prayed for their 14-year-old son, last seen at their Lahaina home. Then they found him [dead]. There was no pattern to who died and no single path to safety amid the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century" (WaPo).

29 comments:

Blastfax Kudos said...: The entire civilized world and every system we've invented is a result of trauma. Horrific trauma that came from witnessing or hearing about sympathetic pain and death and people deciding they were going to work hard next time to prevent it. It is heartbreaking to be alive and watch as more and more of these systems collapse from incompetence, ineptitude or just plain forgetfulness of why that system was instituted in the first place and why it was stupid to tear it down.

Catherine the great famously replied to her literati critics that "they merely wrote with pen and ink, but I write on human flesh and blood". The whole world is at war with an increasing number of idiots that are doing things because people thought they sound good, instead of actually working. Buzzwords, talking points and political agendas are killing people. Horrifically.; 8/19/23, 5:08 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Democrat Governance has consequences.
Send the infected back to senior residences.
Kill infants in utero.
Same Same.
Move on.; 8/19/23, 5:56 PM
Christopher B said...: Which conveniently obscures that if Hawaii Electric had been spending money on line maintenance instead of 'climate change' and someone other than a woke DIE-humping Obama fanboy had been in charge of reservoir operations, hundreds of people would *not* have died.

You Woke Liberals, and you know who youare, own this.; 8/19/23, 6:33 PM
Sebastian said...: "no single path to safety"

Message to other communities: make sure you have many paths.

What will people in SoCal valleys do when the Big One hits?; 8/19/23, 6:48 PM
JK Brown said...: What seems to have been the most deadly was waiting for word from some government functionary. Like people who waited for the government in New Orleans after Katrina.

Never trust the government, especially with your life. Especially if they are Democrats as they don't see others as human but just as useful factions.; 8/19/23, 7:35 PM
EdwdLny said...: Libs, they aren't satisfied to ruin your life, they want to slaughter you and your offspring. Bunch of ignorant, fascist twats.; 8/19/23, 8:00 PM
Narayanan said...: What will people in SoCal valleys do when the Big One hits?
==========
Hillary is coming after them [hurricane]; 8/19/23, 8:02 PM
MalaiseLongue said...: . . . the only proper language, the only true means of representing the ruin, the remains, is silence or a kind of silence.

—Cynthia Cruz, “Notes Toward a New Language: Holes: On Marguerite Duras”

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2015/04/notes-toward-a-new-language-holes-on-marguerite-duras

Maui Food Bank

https://mauifoodbank.org/

Relief fund for employees of Old Lahaina Luau, Star Noodle, and Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop

https://www.gofundme.com/f/oldlahainaluau-starnoodle-leodas-employee-fund; 8/19/23, 8:06 PM
gilbar said...: it's OBVIOUSLY just a "conspiracy theory" to imply that the government had ANY THING to do with the fires. Lack of warnings, instructions to shelter in place, ORDERING people to return to their (burning) homes.. IF (capital I, F; IF) any of this happened it was OBVIOUSLY just mistaken instructions given WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS..
Because, OBVIOUSLY, the government is NOT intentionally burning people out of their homes, so that the government can deliver the the lands to mysterious Billionaires.. THAT would be a CRAZY conspiracy theory!

On the other hand
https://fortune.com/2023/08/17/hawaii-governor-housing-market-land-grab-investors/
Hawaii’s governor wants to suspend the housing market ‘to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab’
Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged the move would likely face legal challenges.

Governor "Green" said: " Sure, this means that people will go bankrupt, and banks will be forced to foreclose on their mortgages.. And the banks will ONLY be able to sell to "APPROVED PURCHASERS" (which will be mysterious Billionaires).. BUT, Gov Green reminded people, that..
THE IMPORTANT THING was that people should not be making money off of their own tragedies
And that selling the ENTIRE ISLAND.. at FIRE SALE PRICES to mysterious Billionaires was A GOOD THING
because those mysterious Billionaires FULLY supported sustainably fighting climate change; 8/19/23, 9:19 PM
Mutaman said...: EdwdLny said...

"Libs, they aren't satisfied to ruin your life, they want to slaughter you and your offspring. Bunch of ignorant, fascist twats."

EdwdLny is a listless vessel.; 8/19/23, 9:22 PM
Big Mike said...: There’s one major road that passes through town heading north and south. Firefighters needed to keep either the northbound route or the southern route out of town open — for which they needed more water and less M. Kaleo Manuel. IMAO people whose degree ends in “Studies” should be regarded as something between a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree from a decent Community College. You know, like a Vocational certificate, but for people whose only talent is pushing bullshit instead of repairing cars or plumbing or HVAC systems.; 8/19/23, 9:35 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: What good is "artificial intelligence" when we still not learning from the past.

That tragedy was a known known.

Let that sink in.; 8/19/23, 10:08 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: "No comment"; 8/19/23, 10:15 PM
Big Mike said...: There’s a paywalled article in the New York Times, but the gist of it seems to be that the residents of a senior living facility on Maui were trapped between the fire and the sea. I’m not able to read whether any of them made it to safety. Why would Emergency Management fail to prioritize evacuating a senior assisted living facility?

The death toll is up to 114. Estimates of the missing range from 950 to 1300.; 8/20/23, 6:00 AM
Big Mike said...: Reports from local Hawaiian news sources are describing a paperwork Hell for residents seeking help from FEMA. NOTE to the Althouse readers — when evacuating your home in the face of a natural disaster grab as much documentation as you can and absolutely do not leave home without your government ID.

Joe and Jill are planning to tour Lahaina. I don’t imagine he’ll take questions about his crappy FEMA response.; 8/20/23, 6:08 AM
Rusty said...: Mutaman said...
EdwdLny said...

"Libs, they aren't satisfied to ruin your life, they want to slaughter you and your offspring. Bunch of ignorant, fascist twats."

EdwdLny is a listless vessel.

The guy had one job. One. But he managed to screw it up in a most horrific way. He's one of you, Mutaman. What "studies" did you get a degree in?
Here's a tip. When you have a job who's purpose is the safety of others. Do your damnedest to get the fewest number of people killed.
But you'll fuck it up somehow.; 8/20/23, 7:13 AM
Big Mike said...: In a comment I made two days ago I demanded to know why the 1000 bed hospital ship USNS Mercy was not being dispatched to Maui to assist the hospitals on Maui overwhelmed by burn victims. Longtime, very thoughtful, commentator Bruce Hayden answered me as follows:

We found with COVID-19 that it takes weeks to activate hospital ships. The doctors, nurses, and others staffing the ships have real jobs, and have to be called up, etc.

And I’m going to respond to his insight by asking why ships like the Mercy, which are so important for responding to emergencies, are not kept ready to sail on a day’s notice. It takes a cruise ship four or five days to sail from California to Hawaii, so start rounding up staff, get the ship underway, and fly the staff to our bases on Oahu so they can meet the Mercy she it arrives. Is that too hard for this set of admirals in the Pentagon? Perhaps we need new ones.

I also asked why I am not reading about Air Force cargo planes ferrying supplies into Maui. Local Hawaiian news sources are praising civilian relief efforts, notably Samaritan’s Purse, which has on old DC-8 passenger jet converted to cargo service to bring in supplies. And United Airlines is flying in tons of much-needed supplies on its own nickel. Where are the Air Farce (yeah, that’s not a typo in the era of Joe Biden) C-17s and C-130s?; 8/20/23, 7:29 AM
EdwdLny said...: "Blogger Mutaman said...
EdwdLny said.." Heh, well let us see. Some idiot lib douche ,but I repeat myself, refused to release water to fight an already controlled wild fire because of " equity ". The power company ignored maintenance to push " green energy " bullshit and murdered hundreds of people, murdered. Not very different from what happened in commifornia a few years ago. You vile disgusting pigs promote, advocate for, justify, and celebrate the wholesale slaughter of hundreds of thousands of babies annually. Kiss my ass, lick my hairy balls and bugger off you evil, ignorant fascist fuck.; 8/20/23, 8:37 AM
Tina Trent said...: Kudos, Blastfax Kudos.; 8/20/23, 8:45 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to discover that emergency supplies required by the hospitals in Maui were found in Ukrainian warehouses or those in sanctuary cities.
Remember the pandemic? Obama never replenished the emergency supplies required then either.
Democrat Governance will kill America.; 8/20/23, 9:10 AM
Rusty said...: Come to think of it, Big Mike. The Navy isn't that far away. The could send an aircraft carrier. They have their own hospital on board and can make more fresh water than they use.; 8/20/23, 10:36 AM
Big Mike said...: @Rusty, you’re right. I actually knew that fact and should not have overlooked it. They also have a complement of helicopters to fly burn victims from the island to the ship.; 8/20/23, 12:24 PM
Big Mike said...: Regarding my post at 6:00, I managed to make my way past the paywall. The assisted living facility claims that only four of its residents died because they resisted efforts to convince them to leave. Other residents who survived say that no one alerted them and everyone shred that residents were left to make their own way to safety. Some owned cars but apparently most did not. Many were mobile but some needed walkers or wheelchairs to get around. It is claimed that least one elderly man burned to death in his wheelchair.

I’ll ask again; why wasn’t evacuating a senior assisted living facility a very high priority?; 8/20/23, 12:36 PM
M said...: Too bad Ron DeSantis wasn’t in charge. These people would likely still be alive. He has done miracles dealing with hurricanes in Florida. Democrat policies always lead to bad outcomes in the end. My prayers are with the victims and their families but I hope people come to their senses regarding bad policies pushed for “climate change” grifts and “equity” lies. Hire the BEST people, not the most diverse. Vote for the politicians that work for order, not chaos.; 8/20/23, 1:21 PM
Larry J said...: “ Big Mike said...
In a comment I made two days ago I demanded to know why the 1000 bed hospital ship USNS Mercy was not being dispatched to Maui to assist the hospitals on Maui overwhelmed by burn victims. Longtime, very thoughtful, commentator Bruce Hayden answered me as follows:

We found with COVID-19 that it takes weeks to activate hospital ships. The doctors, nurses, and others staffing the ships have real jobs, and have to be called up, etc.

And I’m going to respond to his insight by asking why ships like the Mercy, which are so important for responding to emergencies, are not kept ready to sail on a day’s notice. It takes a cruise ship four or five days to sail from California to Hawaii, so start rounding up staff, get the ship underway, and fly the staff to our bases on Oahu so they can meet the Mercy she it arrives. Is that too hard for this set of admirals in the Pentagon? Perhaps we need new ones.”

Ships like the Mercy are kept in Reduced Operating Status until activated. In Reduced Operating Status, a crew of approximately 70 personnel maintain the ship’s systems. When activated, the Mercy’s crew compliment is over 1200. It would be a tremendous waste of resources to keep all of those people ready to deploy on a day’s notice. Many of those people are likely reservists. The Mercy can be ready to deploy, fully staffed, in 5 days. It doesn’t appear that Biden has given the order. I guess he’s busy taking yet another vacation. “No comment.”; 8/20/23, 2:26 PM
FullMoon said...: Any laws preventing utility companies from removing all trees and vegetation within a hundred yards of power lines?

The 2018 Campfire fire destroyed over 11,000 homes. Around 2,000 new homes have been built since. Residents complain about govt restrictions and interference.

And, when the wind blows a little too hard in the area, electric company shuts off the power. Could be a day, could be a week.

Maui will take even longer to recover. Loss of life will be over ten times as much as the Campfire.; 8/20/23, 2:42 PM
Big Mike said...: @Larry J, much obliged to you for the information. But no one is getting the Mercy ready to deploy and add its beds and healthcare providers to support the doctors, nurses, and, especially, the burn victims on Maui. Also, commentator Rusty at 10:36 points out that the Navy has, effectively, a floating hospital at nearby Pearl Harbor that is not being used.; 8/20/23, 7:55 PM
Big Mike said...: @Larry J, much obliged to you for the information. But no one is getting the Mercy ready to deploy and add its beds and healthcare providers to support the doctors, nurses, and, especially, the burn victims on Maui. Also, commentator Rusty at 10:36 points out that the Navy has, effectively, a floating hospital at nearby Pearl Harbor that is not being used.

Back during the Trump administration I commented here on the Althouse blog that one could tell FEMA was doing a good job because there were no stories about disaster recovery following Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Michael, and the slavering scriveners of the mainstream press would be certain to report even the slightest miscue. Conversely, the lack of disaster recovery reporting in the mainstream newsmedia today probably means that FEMA under the Biden administration is screwing up and the newsmedia prefers to report nothing at all instead of reporting what is really going on.; 8/20/23, 10:51 PM
donald said...: The Navy has a huge presence in Hawaii. We don’t use ‘em for their mission now anyway, so it’s criminal that there are no ships right off the Maui coast right now.; 11/8/23, 8:57 AM