Thousands of people displaced by the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century are facing uncertainty as they try to find housing in an expensive housing market that’s also in high demand as a vacation spot. Maui and Lahaina in particular already had a severe housing shortage before the fire incinerated an estimated 3,000 homes.
Charles Nahale plays the only guitar he took with him from the wildfire on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Nahale had many guitar and ukulele collections that were burned down in his home on Front Street. Charles Nahale is pictured during an interview at the Sands of Kahana Resort on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Nahale lived at a family compound on Front Street that was destroyed from August’s wildfire.
In other states, people unable to move home after a disaster might move in with friends and family members who live within a few hours’ drive. That’s trickier on Maui, an island of about 150,000 people that’s a 30-minute plane ride from the nearest major city, Honolulu. Tiffany Teruya is among the lucky ones who found a two-bedroom rental to stay in with her 13-year-old son. The monthly cost for the “tiny, tiny cottage” was $3,000, more than double what she paid for their subsidized apartment in a building that burned in Lahaina.
A Maui-based software developer, Matt Jachowski, built a website aimed at matching fire evacuees with landlords. More than 600 families have sought housing on the site, but he said very few have actually found lodging because landlords want more in rent than the evacuees can afford to pay.
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