Val Casco sits on the balcony at her hotel room near Lahaina, Hawaii, after she and members of her family visited the remains of her Lahaina home, which was destroyed in the Aug. 8 wildfires, on Aug. 24, 2023.West Maui, an area devastated by wildfires that ravaged the historic town of Lahaina less than two months ago, is set tofor visitors on Oct. 8. Lahaina will remain fully closed to the public until further notice, according to the Hawaiian Tourism Authority.
"Why am I stuck at a resort right now every day, waking up wondering if me and my wife and my family are going to get kicked out because tourists need a place to stay?" he told ABC News in an interview. Displaced residents say they have yet to revisit their old homes, as they await clearance from federal and local agencies to clear the areas as safe from hazardous materials and poor air quality. The disaster area is restricted to authorized personnel only, and many areas still don't have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Ruidas said she and others know that West Maui will eventually need to open, "but what's concerning to me is our government officials have not hit certain benchmarks that a lot of us working class, Lahaina locals feel like we need before we can even start to get back to some kind of normalcy." "Being born and raised here, it's difficult to want to reopen and that tourism is going to come back in," Drazkowski said. "But as a business owner, I know that we need it. I know that our families need it. You know, we need to be able to get back to some kind of normalcy to help push forward."Jae C. Hong/AP, FILEfor a large chunk of Maui County's economy.