Three years later, many Lahaina fire survivors are still waiting for a home
LAHAINA — Front Street, the famed two-lane thoroughfare along the ocean’s edge in Lahaina, reopened to traffic Saturday for the first time since the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire gutted much of the historic town, offering one of the clearest signs yet that the community is rebuilding.
As businesses prepare to welcome customers back and commercial projects advance, the town’s recovery is entering a new phase — one that many residents say won’t be complete until more families are able to return home.
The wildfire disaster killed 102 people, burned more than 2,200 structures and displaced thousands of residents.
Three years later, residents continue to navigate the long-term recovery process, including rebuilding their homes, restoring critical infrastructure and addressing ongoing housing challenges.
As of late July, 702 households were still relying on temporary housing assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including 482 families living in FEMA-supported direct housing and 220 households receiving rental assistance. Since the disaster, the federal agency has provided more than $41.6 million in rental assistance.
Meanwhile, rebuilding continues across Lahaina.
Data from Maui County shows 315 homes are under construction, 577 residential units have been rebuilt or newly constructed and 667 residential building permits have been issued, with another 597 permits still moving through the approval process.
While officials say rebuilding plans are in place for 81% of the impacted properties, they acknowledge that financing, insurance gaps, permitting and rising construction costs continue to slow the recovery.
For Michele Haia, 63, returning home could still be years away. She and her husband have been living at Ka La‘i Ola, the state’s temporary modular housing community, since it opened after the wildfire destroyed their Lahainaluna Road home.
Before the fire, the couple had nearly finished remodeling the house, built in 1967, and planned to increase their insurance coverage once renovations were complete. They never got the chance. Their policy paid about $195,000 for a home that is now expected to cost between $1.4 million and $1.7 million to rebuild.
“We’re totally underinsured,” Haia said.
Now retired and living on fixed incomes, the couple couldn’t qualify for a construction loan. Instead, their son had to borrow on the family’s behalf.
Even then, rebuilding remains uncertain.
By acting as homeowner-builders and relying on local contractors willing to work at reduced rates, the family hopes to finish the shell of the home before running out of money. The interior — drywall, flooring, cabinets and plumbing fixtures — may have to wait until more funding becomes available.
The delays have made rebuilding more expensive. For example, concrete that was once estimated at to cost about $50,000 is now closer to $90,000.
The financial strain and uncertainty have taken a toll on Haia, who said the stress has begun affecting her health.
More than her own situation, Haia worries about the kupuna around her. Many are on fixed incomes and face the same financial hurdles to rebuilding, leaving them to spend their retirement years waiting for answers instead of settling back into their homes.
“I really think the government needs to focus more on getting these buildings up for (kupuna),” she said. “They need something sturdy so they don’t have to worry.”
Just a few neighborhoods away, Kimo and Rose Stone represent what many survivors are hoping for. The couple were one of the first families to move back after the nonprofit Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse rebuilt their home in about seven months, free of charge.
“They literally gave us back the house,” Kimo Stone said. “No money down. We have no rent, we have no mortgage, we have no loans.”
But Stone knows his family’s experience is the exception. Working in construction, he has been helping rebuild homes throughout Lahaina and has seen firsthand why so many families remain in limbo. Insurance often doesn’t cover the full cost of rebuilding, construction prices continue to climb, and many homeowners struggle to secure financing or navigate the complex permitting and grant process.
A typical four-bedroom house can cost around $800,000 through a traditional contractor, Stone said. By helping homeowners manage projects themselves, he has reduced some rebuilds to under $450,000.
“Money is the worst thing,” he said. “It’s in the way of everything.”
For the Stones and many others, the emotional recovery from the disaster has lagged behind the physical one.
Rose Stone said she still rushes outside whenever she smells smoke, and strong winds can trigger anxiety as memories of the 2023 wildfire resurface. Their children remain on edge as well.
“Just because you have a home doesn’t mean that it goes away,” she said. “There’s people out there, our neighbors who I talk to every day, and … there’s that survivor’s guilt. We made it through but a lot of people can’t even get home.”
The reopening of Front Street has stirred mixed emotions as she recalls feeling “angry, hurt and frustrated” watching tourists and other onlookers drive through burned neighborhoods to take photos and videos. But she also acknowledged that “progress is part of the healing process.”
“We are in uncharted territory,” Stone said. “The decisions we make today will affect the Lahaina of tomorrow and generations to come.”
As the third anniversary of the deadly wildfire approaches, the Stones worry that public attention has begun to drift elsewhere, even as they believe the community remains at least 15 years away from fully recovering.
Carolyn Auweloa said rebuilding homes is only part of the recovery, with the greater challenge being ensuring local families can still afford to live in Lahaina for generations to come.
Shortly after the fire, Auweloa helped establish the Lahaina Community Land Trust, fearing outside investors would purchase burned lots from desperate residents before they had a chance to rebuild.
“We’d heard about disaster capitalism,” she said. “We didn’t want to see that happen in our community.”
The nonprofit’s Keep Lahaina Home Insurance Gap Program helps homeowners whose insurance payouts fall short of rebuilding costs. In exchange, homeowners agree to keep the property owner-occupied and affordable in perpetuity if sold in the future.
The land trust also buys land and removes it from the speculative real estate market. Families purchase the homes on the property while the trust retains ownership of the land through a long-term lease, allowing homeowners to build equity and pass the home to future generations while preserving affordability.
The program currently prioritizes Maui residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Lahaina wildfire.
So far, the Lahaina Community Land Trust has secured 21 parcels, with two additional properties in escrow.
Five families have already returned home through the organization’s rebuilding efforts, with four more homes under construction.
“We’re creating an inventory of permanently affordable housing,” Auweloa said.
She believes affordability will determine whether Lahaina remains a local community or becomes increasingly out of reach.
“If we don’t do something now,” she said, “our kids are not going to be able to afford to live here.”
Maui county officials say significant progress has been made since the fire.
The largest debris removal effort in Hawaii history has been completed, with more than 400,000 tons of wildfire debris hauled to the Central Maui Landfill. More than $1.6 billion in federal disaster recovery funding has been secured, with over $903 million committed to housing. And now Front Street is open to through traffic.
Programs under the county’s Ho‘okumu Hou initiative offer up to $1.2 million for eligible homeowners rebuilding after the fire, while additional funding is supportin