On the second anniversary of the Maui wildfires, the 102 people who died were honored with a “paddle out” and a memorial service. The mayor of Lahaina said, the wind carries their voices, urging us to keep going.
But more than 2,000 homes were destroyed, and growth has been slower than many had hoped. It took an entire year just to clear the wreckage, and the road to recovery is measured one new home at a time. Historic downtown is still closed to the public, and only 50 homes have been rebuilt.
Recovery, says Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, begins with rebuilding.
“The top priority is to get people their homes — and homes mean mental health,” Green said.
Mental health has become its own crisis, worsening after the initial year of shock wore off. Two years after the wildfires, nearly half of Lahaina residents show depressive symptoms and nearly 30% suffer from moderate to severe anxiety, according to a newly released state-funded study.
“A lot of us are still in really heavy trauma,” said Kiha Kaina, who helped rescue people who jumped into the ocean to escape the flames on Aug. 8, 2023. He learned days later that his father was among the 102 people killed.
CBS News first spoke to Kaina last year.
“It put me in a little bit of a scary area, where I would feel myself falling into the trap of suicidal thoughts,” Kaina said at the time.
Today, he’s still healing one day at a time.
“I’m not going to lie. It’s not an easy journey, but I think I needed time. Like everything else, it needs time to get better,” Kaina said.
His 2-year-old daughter has been a guiding light in recovery.
“Fatherhood — it was a blessing. And having my child around me gave me motivation to work harder, to be a better father, to be alive,” Kaina said. “Luckily, I was able to get a hold of myself. I’ve been taking a lot of classes and getting help for myself.”
When asked whether the anniversary is about forgetting what happened or finding peace with what he’s been through, Kaina said, “It’s a little bit of both for me. Forgetting is one of the parts of healing, but at the same time it’s — you have to find that peace within yourself.
In Lahaina, hope and grief still walk the same streets — each step forward a reminder of what’s been lost and what’s worth saving.
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