On the island streets where residents made escapes through raging walls of fire, so many others did not.
“The fire just started exploding the gas stations,” said Gabe, who is from Hawaii.
Gabe told us he was on his boat near Lahaina.
“It felt like an apocalypse,” he said.
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He tried to save as many as he could.
“There were dead bodies on the rocks and the first kids they brought out were 4-year-olds on surfboards," he said. "It was very sad."
On the island of Maui, the scope of the devastation is becoming clear. There are dozens dead, so far, and at least a thousand buildings destroyed. Many people are missing.
“I've never seen something ravaged so fast,” said Keith Hunter, a Lahaina resident.
On the Hawaiian islands, people are loading boats with supplies like food, water, gas and clothes.
The Global Empowerment Mission, a local nonprofit from Doral, is one assisting. They are heading to ground zero soon.
“No one is allowed in but we will be in soon. Mainly because there are still bodies everywhere,” said Michael Capponi, the CEO of GEM.
GEM is primarily focusing on providing shelter for those displaced.
“The shelter situation is a rough one," Capponi said. "It looks like Poland after the Ukraine crisis. We want to be able to provide shelter for these people."
While help is on its way, survivors are trying not to despair.
"This is going to take years, years to recover,” Hunter said.
Click here to donate to GEM to help victims of the wildfires.
