BU student describes scene: ‘chaotic times a thousand’

As fires raged across the Hawaiian island of Maui this week, Noelle Lo, a rising sophomore at Boston University, found herself helping the displaced at an American Red Cross evacuation shelter set up inside Maui High School, where she was a student a couple of years ago.

“We’ve been sheltering people who have been escorted from Lahaina — tourists, locals,” said Lo, 19, a Maui native who has been spending her summer there. “We’ve also been dealing with reunification with people looking to reunite with their families.”

The situation at the shelter — and across the island — is tumultuous, as thousands flee the flames and seek safety, while the injured fill hospitals, the skies grow dark with smoke, and survivors deal with the emotional impact of the devastation, she said in a phone interview.

“‘Chaotic’ is the best word I could probably use to describe it, but it’s chaotic times a thousand,” Lo said. “You’re dealing with all kinds of different people from different walks of life. Some have lived in Lahaina their whole lives. Some are grandparents — kupuna — and some are tourists who just arrived on the island, and . . . they go to their hotel for one night, and now they can’t even get their clothes, their medications.”

Lo has been safe from the blazes, spending her time in the neighboring communities of Wailuku and Kahului, in a developed and populous portion of Maui at the neck between the island’s two large masses. But she works in Wailea, on the southwest coast, near one of the fires, and she has loved ones living in Lahaina, which has been devastated by the conflagration.

“I have friends in Lahaina who had to relocate over to town to protect themselves, and especially upcountry, some of them had to leave upcountry in Kihei, as well,” she said. “Lahaina was so historical to us. I mean, people grew up on those streets. I know people who went to those high schools, and just generation on generation have lived in Lahaina, and this is our history and now it’s burnt alive.”

Lo was relieved that her loved ones were safe, though some friends were briefly missing, and as she spoke to a reporter around 7:30 a.m. Thursday in Hawaii, a glimmer of hope appeared.

“It actually just started raining in town,” she said. “So hopefully it’s raining in the other parts of Maui.”