MORNING: HOWLING WINDS THEN A BRUSH FIRE
LISA VORPAHL, a bank teller, woke to the sound of someone shuffling on her lanai, a Hawaiian-style patio. It was 3 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 August 2023. She looked out her bedroom window along a dry, grassy slope overlooking her slice of tropical paradise in Lahaina, Hawaii, and realized it was just the wind.
Alexa Caskey couldn't sleep either. On the farm where she grew taro and breadfruit for her plant-based restaurant, she listened to gusts that would soon dislodge her garage door and topple the Hong Kong orchid tree outside.
Photographer Rachael Zimmerman woke up before dawn in her condo on Front Street, Lahaina's seaside boulevard of restaurants and surf shops, to howls rattling her window screens.
If there was any warning on that fitful night that Hawaii was about to endure one of the most horrific and deadly natural disasters in the state's history, it was only the wind.
For two days, the National Weather Service in Honolulu had been sending out ominous alerts about powerful easterly gusts, whipped up by Hurricane Dora passing 800 kilometers to the south. The gusts hit Maui at a time when much of the tropical island had been parched by severe drought, including the drier leeward side that includes Lahaina.
The next time Vorpahl woke up, she smelled smoke. The power was out.
A fire had started in the dry grass near her home on Lahainaluna Road, on a slope just east of the highway that bypasses downtown. Power poles had and wires fallen in the neighbourhood, had snapped-leading several neighbours to later question whether electrical equipment had started the blaze.
Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
READER'S DIGEST-BOOKS
These book summaries highlight Siddharthya Roy's exploration of conflict and violence, Michael Castleman's deep dive into the history of publishing, and Swadesh Deepak's examination of social issues and masculinity through Hindi literature.
Man with printed sarong
A lawyer, pianist, critic, and mentor to artists, Lionel Wendt is best known for his photographs of Sri Lanka, especially those of people indigenous to the island, captured amidst the lush landscape or posing in his studio.
Too Much?
New studies show that even moderate drinking is a health hazard. Here’s a frank look at the toll alcohol takes on the body
ME & MY SHELF
Coimbatore-born Prashanth Srivatsa is a science fiction/fantasy writer whose stories have appeared in magazines such as Asimov’s, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Three-Lobed Burning Eye, among others. Prashanth’s debut fantasy novel, The Spice Gate chronicles the journey of Amir, a young man born with special abilities who unravels the power that keeps the world in balance. magazines such as Asimov's, Magazine of Fantasy Science Fiction and Three-Lobed Burning Eye, among others. Prashanth’s debut fantasy novel, The Spice Gate chronicles the journey of Amir, a young man born with special abilities who unravels the power that keeps the world in balance.
Small Business, Big Heart
Caring for people is part of the deal at family-run shops
Spill the Beans
Everyone has secrets. Here's why you should share yours
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
Angry lovers are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
FULL STEAM AHEAD!
I GOT THE CHANCE TO DRIVE THE WORLD'S LAST SCHEDULED STEAM TRAIN
Stressed and Worn Down
More and more people are clenching and grinding their teeth. Here's what to do about it
THIS BACON FAKERY MUST STOP
I was recently given bacon-flavoured dental floss for my birthday.