On the eve of Nanea Estrella’s scheduled flight last week back to Iowa from Maui, news of wildfires on her island began to spread.
She was packing for her upcoming fall semester at the University of Iowa, where last year she joined the inaugural Hawkeye women’s wrestling team under head coach Clarissa Chun — who is from Honolulu, removed from the wildfires farther east.
About 3:30 p.m. Tuesday — as Estrella’s family was gathering in her hometown of Makawao, in upcountry Maui, for a barbecue to say goodbye — she got a phone call from her boyfriend’s mom. The mom lived about an hour west, in Lahaina — the town where Estrella had gone to high school.
“She just said, ‘The fire is getting really bad. … It's working its way over. I don't know when I should escape. I don't know when I should evacuate’,” UI senior Estrella, 21, told The Gazette. “She was just watching as the smoke was rolling in.”
The woman had been keeping an eye on the weather before the fire threatened, as Category 4 hurricane Dora tore roofs off houses, including the one next door. Estrella’s boyfriend and his dad had left the day before to move him back to college at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. — leaving his mom alone.
Although Estrella is from upcountry, she went to Lahainaluna High School for four years, boarding with what she considered her second family in Lahaina.
“I was a wrestler there,” she said. “That was my community ever since a little bit before I was in high school — because my brother was a high school student there as well. That community took me in and became my second home.”
So with friends and family began arriving Tuesday for the barbecue, Estrella said she couldn’t keep from checking social media — as three wildfires swelled, including one upcountry near where they lived.
“I was just getting more and more anxiety because the fires started engulfing the neighborhoods,” she said. “It engulfed the neighborhood that was right next to where I was staying most of the summer — I was down in Lahaina. … It started moving through the houses, and we hadn't heard from my mother-in-law, we hadn't heard from any of my friends’ parents, or anybody.”
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No one knew at that time the extent of the fires or how quickly they were spreading. “Everybody thought that there was time for people to escape,” she said. “There was not.”
Officials have confirmed more than 90 deaths from the Maui wildfires. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has called the fires likely the largest natural disaster in state history. Over 4,500 people are need of shelter.
Governor of Hawaii Josh Green, left, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell look at a destroyed building Saturday during a tour of wildfire damage in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Estrella said. “Both my grandparents were born and raised on the island, for generations my family's been here. Nobody's ever seen anything that has been this traumatic and this deadly.”
For hours she was out of touch with her boyfriend’s mom, who had rushed to her car and gotten stuck in gridlock. A woman in a car in front of her got out and started running, forcing others to maneuver around her vacant vehicle.
“She barely made it out,” Estrella said of her boyfriend’s mom. “But they lost everything. They lost their house. They had a boat in the harbor. All the boats in the harbor caught fire. So they lost their boat. Luckily they made it out, and their animals made it out.
“But I have a lot of family friends that have lost their animals and their house and everything just because they weren't there at the time, or they couldn't find them at the time, or they couldn't get out fast enough.”
Three of her five high school wrestling coaches lost their homes.
With her immediate family out of danger, Estrella has been making phone calls to arrange for donations and finding places for family and friends to stay.
“I’ve been setting up both my grandparents’ houses to help them with their rooms and setting them up for people to come and take shelter,” she said.
“As soon as the shelters were opened, they were looking for donations, and immediately I went through all of my clothes,” Estrella said. “I gave up everything that I didn't see myself wearing in the next three weeks, anything that I could go without. … We went through all the blankets that we don't use, all the pillows that we could go without.”
And while her parents don’t currently have an open room for themselves, they will come Monday, when Estrella leaves on her rebooked flight back to Iowa and turns her room there over to them.
“It’s a really hard situation to walk away from,” she said. “There are grandparents and children and moms and dads who’ve lost their lives. I've heard horror stories of people who, to flee the fires, they had to jump in the water. And people who had to watch their family and aunts and uncles die next to them in the water from smoke inhalation, from burn damage, or from drowning because they couldn't keep it up for hours. People treading water for five hours before they could get rescued. And they were just watching people die next to them.”
Once Estrella is back in Iowa City, she plans to coordinate donation drives and fundraising campaigns to support both short-term and long-term rebuilding efforts across her home island.
“It's a strong community, and we will rebuild,” she said. “But it's just heartbreaking to see that everything is lost. Everything is gone.”
For more information on the fires and how to help, visit Mauicounty.gov
Donate to the Maui Strong fund at hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong
Donate through United Way at
mauiunitedway.org/disasterrelief
www.thegazette.com
She was packing for her upcoming fall semester at the University of Iowa, where last year she joined the inaugural Hawkeye women’s wrestling team under head coach Clarissa Chun — who is from Honolulu, removed from the wildfires farther east.
About 3:30 p.m. Tuesday — as Estrella’s family was gathering in her hometown of Makawao, in upcountry Maui, for a barbecue to say goodbye — she got a phone call from her boyfriend’s mom. The mom lived about an hour west, in Lahaina — the town where Estrella had gone to high school.
“She just said, ‘The fire is getting really bad. … It's working its way over. I don't know when I should escape. I don't know when I should evacuate’,” UI senior Estrella, 21, told The Gazette. “She was just watching as the smoke was rolling in.”
The woman had been keeping an eye on the weather before the fire threatened, as Category 4 hurricane Dora tore roofs off houses, including the one next door. Estrella’s boyfriend and his dad had left the day before to move him back to college at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. — leaving his mom alone.
Although Estrella is from upcountry, she went to Lahainaluna High School for four years, boarding with what she considered her second family in Lahaina.
“I was a wrestler there,” she said. “That was my community ever since a little bit before I was in high school — because my brother was a high school student there as well. That community took me in and became my second home.”
So with friends and family began arriving Tuesday for the barbecue, Estrella said she couldn’t keep from checking social media — as three wildfires swelled, including one upcountry near where they lived.
“I was just getting more and more anxiety because the fires started engulfing the neighborhoods,” she said. “It engulfed the neighborhood that was right next to where I was staying most of the summer — I was down in Lahaina. … It started moving through the houses, and we hadn't heard from my mother-in-law, we hadn't heard from any of my friends’ parents, or anybody.”
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No one knew at that time the extent of the fires or how quickly they were spreading. “Everybody thought that there was time for people to escape,” she said. “There was not.”
Officials have confirmed more than 90 deaths from the Maui wildfires. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has called the fires likely the largest natural disaster in state history. Over 4,500 people are need of shelter.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Estrella said. “Both my grandparents were born and raised on the island, for generations my family's been here. Nobody's ever seen anything that has been this traumatic and this deadly.”
For hours she was out of touch with her boyfriend’s mom, who had rushed to her car and gotten stuck in gridlock. A woman in a car in front of her got out and started running, forcing others to maneuver around her vacant vehicle.
“She barely made it out,” Estrella said of her boyfriend’s mom. “But they lost everything. They lost their house. They had a boat in the harbor. All the boats in the harbor caught fire. So they lost their boat. Luckily they made it out, and their animals made it out.
“But I have a lot of family friends that have lost their animals and their house and everything just because they weren't there at the time, or they couldn't find them at the time, or they couldn't get out fast enough.”
Three of her five high school wrestling coaches lost their homes.
With her immediate family out of danger, Estrella has been making phone calls to arrange for donations and finding places for family and friends to stay.
“I’ve been setting up both my grandparents’ houses to help them with their rooms and setting them up for people to come and take shelter,” she said.
“As soon as the shelters were opened, they were looking for donations, and immediately I went through all of my clothes,” Estrella said. “I gave up everything that I didn't see myself wearing in the next three weeks, anything that I could go without. … We went through all the blankets that we don't use, all the pillows that we could go without.”
And while her parents don’t currently have an open room for themselves, they will come Monday, when Estrella leaves on her rebooked flight back to Iowa and turns her room there over to them.
“It’s a really hard situation to walk away from,” she said. “There are grandparents and children and moms and dads who’ve lost their lives. I've heard horror stories of people who, to flee the fires, they had to jump in the water. And people who had to watch their family and aunts and uncles die next to them in the water from smoke inhalation, from burn damage, or from drowning because they couldn't keep it up for hours. People treading water for five hours before they could get rescued. And they were just watching people die next to them.”
Once Estrella is back in Iowa City, she plans to coordinate donation drives and fundraising campaigns to support both short-term and long-term rebuilding efforts across her home island.
“It's a strong community, and we will rebuild,” she said. “But it's just heartbreaking to see that everything is lost. Everything is gone.”
How to help
For more information on the fires and how to help, visit Mauicounty.gov
Donate to the Maui Strong fund at hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong
Donate through United Way at
mauiunitedway.org/disasterrelief
Hawaiian Hawkeye wrestler watches community burn
On the eve of Nanea Estrella’s scheduled flight back to Iowa from Maui on Wednesday, news of fire on her island began to spread. She was packing for her upcoming fall semester at the University of Iowa, where last year Estrella joined the inaugural Hawkeye women’s wrestling team under head coach...
www.thegazette.com
