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Wildfires torched the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 8, killing 99 people and counting. The fire harmed or destroyed at least 2,200 buildings in West Maui, 86% of which were residential, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said during a tour of the devastation Saturday, and it will cost at least $6 billion to rebuild. Maui’s infrastructure also took a beating.
The worst of the fires were concentrated in the historic town of Lahaina, former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, a sacred burial site of many Hawaiian chiefs and a key tourism destination. Many properties were burned so badly that water spewed out of their melting pipes, depressurizing Lahaina’s water network and leaving firefighters with dry fire hydrants as they tried to stop its advance, the New York Times reported.
Across the island in Kula, residents also experienced a breakdown in their water system amid the fires. On Aug. 11, the County of Maui Department of Water Supply issued an unsafe water alert for areas of Upper Kula and Lahaina affected by wildfires.
Power lines and transmission poles were also damaged, leaving 14,000 households and businesses without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.
“Lahaina is an old town and all of its electrical infrastructure was above ground. Many of the electrical poles have burned and power substations in the area have also been impacted,” said Cheryl Walthall, executive director of the General Contractors Association of Hawaii, in an email to Construction Dive.
Multiple roads are still closed, and cell and internet service is limited. There is significant structural damage to cell sites serving Lahaina, Inside Towers reported, and carriers were working over the weekend to restore service.
Read the full article about Lahaina's infrastructure by Julie Strupp at Construction Dive.