Poles stuck on Maui. “We’re in bathing suits. All our things burned down”

Hurricane Dora on Wednesday, August 9, spread dangerous fires across the islands of Hawai’i and Maui, which the authorities of the archipelago cannot cope with. US Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke admitted that hospitals are full of people suffering from burns or smoke inhalation. She added that as many as 15,000 of Hawaii’s homes are without electricity and mobile phones do not work, so it is difficult to contact the residents.

Hawaii is burning. The National Guard in action

The situation is so serious that the National Guard, which is helping the police and rescuers in evacuations, has been put on alert. In an interview with RMF FM, Polish tourists talked about at least 6 fatalities from the disaster and the famous case of saving 12 people who swam too far from the shore during a chaotic evacuation. Luckily, people fleeing Maui from the fire were rescued by the coast guard.

Journalist Paweł Żuchnowski, in an interview with a Polish woman from New Jersey, established that there are also at least 14 of our compatriots on the second largest island of Hawaii. All their belongings were left in the resort of Lahaina, where the fire caused particularly great damage. “The whole town burned down. We are in bathing suits. All our stuff was burned. Only mattress springs remained from our resort – said the tourist.

Poles in Maui feel cut off from the world

The Polish woman emphasized that travelers could not get to the airport because everything in their path was consumed by fire and “there is no way to get through”. She added that the internet works very poorly, which intensifies the feeling of being cut off from the world. “There is great confusion. What we learn is from some text messages from friends from other parts of the USA or even Poland – added the woman.