Wildfires claim 36 lives: 'It looks apocalyptic,' says former Raleigh resident living in Maui

As tourists try to get off Maui and return to the mainland, some former Raleigh residents call the island home.

WRAL News spoke with Lisa Schell, who returned to her home state of Hawaii after living in Raleigh for 30 years.

Schell said she can’t help comparing the wildfire to when Hurricane Fran hit Raleigh in 1996.

“I was in Raleigh when Fran hit and I remembered how people just banded together, and it was an amazing thing,” Schell said. “It will be like that here, but ten-fold.”

From her home, Schell has a view of two of the fires burning in Maui — the Kīhei fire and the Kula Fire.

“It looks apocalyptic,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that, certainly not in Hawaii. This Is unprecedented for this state.”

Sacred, ancestral lands have already been lost.

Historic towns like Lahaina, a former whaling town, have been decimated, said Taylor, who cried as he spoke about the devastation.

“You know its heartbreaking to see that place so destroyed — there’s nothing left,” Taylor said. “The pictures that I see of the harbor – all those ships are gone. The boats are burned and sank and the historic buildings, and not even the ashes from the buildings are there.”

Hawaiian officials are urging tourists to postpone their trips, but some North Carolinians are already there.

The family said they are located in the southern part of the island and could see and hear the winds blowing the flames at a rapid pace.

“We were planning to go to that side of the island today for the second half of our trip,” a traveler said. “And there was no notification from the hotels. We found out that all the power was down, the phone lines were down, and it was just kind of a scary moment to figure out what are we gonna do?”

While there is devastation everywhere, Schell said Maui’s magical quality is what will help it rise from the ashes.

“The spirit, the mana, the energy if you will, of all of that deep-rooted connection is going to be the foundation for everybody rebuilding Maui,” Schell said.

How to help people in Maui

Crews continue to battle fires in Maui and the Big Island, which have been fanned in part by strong winds from Hurricane Dora.

The island’s main highway has reopened, giving more people a chance to get to the airport to get out. Officials said the full extent of the damage may not be known for weeks or even months.