Happy Aloha Sunday! No mo’ Hurricane Lane! It felt so good going out to the beach this morning with the sun shining bright on South Maui. As I walked to the beach from our house, I smelled the plumerias along the way. Mahalo to all of you who prayed and sent well wishes for us while we were preparing for Hurricane Lane. We very much appreciated all your concerns and well wishes. Hurricane Lane weakend as it approached our island. We came out with minimal damage compared to what potentially it could have done. We are thankful!
It’s been a “whirlwind” kind of few days here in Hawaii. For a quick recap on our last few days on Maui:
Aug. 21 Tuesday
This was the first day I heard about Hurricane Lane is heading to Hawaii. Maui was placed in a Category 4 and later rose to Category 5. That was pretty alarming considering that it means the wind blowing 150 mph heading our way. I wrote a blog post aggregating some reliable weather sites to go to and check for Updates on Hurricane Lane.
As part of Hurricane preparation, people started heading to grocery stores and gas stations Costco was packed! I know Costco usually have lines but these are extra-long lines!
Aug. 22 Wednesday
Schools and some offices were closed due to Hurricane Lane. Our agents here at Wailea Realty were busy assisting their clients who are on the mainland and have vacation homes and condos. They made sure that their clients homes and condos are secured (lanai furniture taken inside, etc.).
However, South Maui did not experience the rain and wind forecasted. It was hot and humid.
Many started using the hashtag #HurricaneLane on photos and videos on social media. Funny Memes started coming out too. Here are two of the famous (shared a lot) posts. Do you know who originally took this photos? It’s been shared so much that I do not know who to give credit to. If you happen to take this photo, please let me know and I will add the credit.
Aug. 23 Thursday
We continued to monitor the situation. I came to work but went home at around 3pm. Still no rain, no wind and it was very humid in South Maui and West Maui. However, the Big Island was taking the hit of the hurricane. It was raining hard there. Hurricane Lane was reduced to Category 3. At about 3pm I went to Kamaole Beach 1 and took this video:
And the Maui Sunset was beautiful! This photo below was taken at Makena Beach park by Melo Y. Anton and he shared it at Visit Live Love Maui facebook group page.
Aug. 24 Friday
I woke up with the news that there was a big fire in Lahaina. And then another fire broke in Kaanapali. A lot of people in Lahaina had to evacuate. Lahaina’s power was down. There were smoke all around.
People started praying for rain to come to help contain Lahaina’s fire. Captions on photos like “I can’t believe I am saying this, but please Hurricane Lane come to Lahaina and bring your rain”.
Kudos to all the firefighters and police officers on duty. Kudos to the Maui communities who are all very quick mobilizing help and support for the affected.
The fire in Lahaina is very tragic. Various fundraising and relief efforts are happening at this time. One of them is #LahainaStrong. The goal was to raise $10K for the fire victims and the goal was reached in one day, it was raised to $50K. At the time of writing this, the goal was raised to $100K and the funds are up to $77K. The funds raised will go directly to the fire victims. Public’s support is a testament that the Aloha Spirit is alive and strong on Maui. I have to mention donations did not only come from Hawaii, but from people from all over the nation and the world also contributed to this. Our deepest warmest mahalo to all.
Another fundraising worth supporting is the Go Fund Me for the rebuilding of Simpli Fresh Farm that was burned with fire. The photo below was taken prior to the fire burning down most of their farm. You will find the photos here.
Aug. 25 Saturday
Hurricane Lane was downgraded to a tropical storm. Tropical Storm Warning was up on Maui which meant that tropical storms conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Rain started pouring on many parts of Maui, particularly Hana and Haiku area. Twin Falls was flooded, a culvert in Haiku, but overall, the damages were far less than what it would have been had Hurricane Lane hit us directly. Needless to say, we are thankful.
Most offices, shops and stores are open and back to normal
Aug. 26 Sunday
The sun is shining on South Maui. I walked to the beach early this morning and did a Facebook Live (replay video embedded at the end of this post – see below)
One of our agents, Nancy Beebe took this video on Sugar Beach this morning. Yes, we are back on our real estate business. We are here to serve you.
A new listing, a beautiful home with ohana in Kamaole Heights, in Kihei was listed by Top Maui Homes Team with Wailea Realty Corp. on Friday. In case you are looking for a house with an ohana on a large lot in Kihei, you should check this out: 144 Wailea St. Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Yes, it is a beautiful Sunday on Maui today. Here’s a replay of the FB Live I did this morning. Enjoy and have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
