Portuguese Zélia Paulino, who has lived on the island of Maui, Hawaii, for 23 years, told DN about the drama she has experienced in these days marked by fires in that archipelago of the United States: “We have lost everything.. … and it wasn’t just our house, it was all the houses in the neighborhood.”
The fire, he explains, even started far away from where they live, but the force of the wind proved to be devastating. “The sky was orange, but it got darker and darker, black, like it was a rainy day. The wind blew so hard that the fire came very close to us. And it started far away. It went fast. I’m doing my best not to be a person of fear, I have faith in God, but it got to the point where that color was really ugly. I had never seen the sea or our island like this,” he said in a choked voice.
Zélia, who moved to California at the age of seven, was forced to flee with her husband, son and dog to a friend’s house on the other side of the island, where you can’t see any smoke. And they did it on time. “We fled on Tuesday. The fire department told us to evacuate. We took what we could. When we left our street, we saw a house and a church on fire. It was good that we got out quickly. If we take more time, I don’t know what it would be like,” he said, as he was about to travel back to Lahaina, trying to start all over again.
“My husband and I are going to Lahaina and we want to see our house, but our neighbors, who have been there, say we have nothing left, everything has melted. We are doing our best to go there, me and my husband work there, and we want to help our neighbors,” he continued, hoping that Joe Biden’s administration will support those who were left with nothing.
“I think the government will help us. There are many people. Almost all of our friends have lost everything. We have been here for 23 years, our children were born here. Hopefully they will help us. There are several organizations that are here.” to help. Let’s see… We want to clean everything up and start over,” he confessed, admitting a loss of about a million dollars. “We had my husband’s tools there, family portraits from our wedding, and last year we bought a new sofa,” she added, touched.
The death toll from the wildfires that ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui last week reached 106, and only five have been identified according to the latest police figures.
Authorities continue to insist that it is very likely that the death toll will rise significantly, as only 32% of the burnt area has been inspected so far, according to the latest official data.
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he will travel to the island of Maui next Monday.
Source: DN
