In Lahaina, ‘Dignified' Havens for Wildfire Survivors

New York Times

2 days ago

Hot dry winds from a nearby ocean hurricane swirled across Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 8, 2023, downing power lines that ignited dry grass. The brush fire on the island of Maui would become a wind-lashed inferno destroying much of the history-drenched town where Hawaiian kings and queens once presided, and whalers and missionaries clashed — a place beloved by visitors and residents at the edge of the Pacific.
The fire, which grew at terrifying speed, took the lives of 102 people. It destroyed 2,200 buildings and displaced 8,000 in a town of 13,000. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and local officials moved displaced people to hotel rooms in unharmed resorts, but many remain without adequate shelter.
Last November, five-truck convoys began arriving in town from the port of Kahului across the island, each carrying long boxes shrouded in white fabric. Cranes dropped them into place atop concrete footings on a sloping 34-acre site uphill of devastated blocks along the ocean. The shrouds were removed, revealing modest homes painted in bright hues — the answer to many prayers.
These Lahaina houses, which are modular and assembled in a factory, are the latest attempt by FEMA to address a longtime need to upgrade temporary emergency housing from travel trailers that quickly deteriorate when lived in for months or years.
Disasters are becoming more frequent and more destructive with, at this writing, some 33 large fires raging across the United States, including the Dragon Bravo fire at the Grand Canyon and the Gifford fire in California. Smoke from Canadian wildfires drifts across the Great Lakes and the Northeast. With high costs slowing rebuilding, states and cities have demanded sturdier stock that can serve for years, or even become permanent housing.
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