TEMPE, AZ — Thursday, Fred and Debbie Corban of Mesa hit traffic while driving to the Maui airport.
On their drive, they passed downed power lines, burned cars and homes, and destruction from the recent deadly wildfires.
The Mesa couple stayed near Kaanapali Beach when winds raged Tuesday morning where they lost power and water.
Wednesday, their children were able to book them flights off of the island.
While Arizona tourists are trying to get back to the Valley, others are mourning.
Savannah Dagupion is emotional talking about Maui.
“My home is everything,” Dagupion says. “I feel like especially being Native Hawaiian, I feel like we fought so much to get where we are today, and then to see it burned down, it's a bit hard."
The soon-to-be ASU Junior flew to California Tuesday, the day the fires started raging in Maui.
"My house back home in Kula was about three miles away from the upcountry fire,” Dagupion explains. “My mom, I know she packed up all of my yearbooks and things and she was asking me what things are of significance to me.”
Arizona State University reached out to Dagupion to offer their support.
“It's kind of bittersweet,” Dagupion says. “I was so excited to return to ASU and come back to college to see all my friends again, but there will be like the underlying sense of like, back home, people are hurting, and people are in need."
She has family on both sides of the island. But her cousins' home in Lahaina was destroyed by the fire.
“To Native Hawaiians, our home and the land is like very important to us,” Dagupion says. “It's like the land is a part of our family in our culture. And so, to hear people worry about things that aren't really significant, is hard."
Jon Cooney says Maui needs global aid. He lives in the West Valley, in Youngtown, but his home is Lahaina.
And thousands of miles away, Cooney is forced to wait.
"I'm getting phone calls as we speak that are coming in. People I can't even get ahold of yet, power lines are down, phone lines are down, internet is down,” Cooney says.
