What the Hell Is Going on in Maui After That Devastating Wildfire?

It was quite the photo-op last August for Presidentish Joe Biden when he got lei'd in Maui for all the cameras in the wake of one of America's deadliest wildfires. But six months later, Biden is accused of neglecting its victims, somebody seems to be slow-walking the recovery process, and conspiracy theories are everywhere.

The worst hit was the town of Lahaina, where more than 100 people were killed, around 70 others injured, three remain missing, and countless buildings and homes were destroyed — more than 2,000. The fires spread quickly due to high winds and — this is where things got weird — civil defense sirens were never activated, despite Hawaii having the world's largest integrated outdoor siren warning system. There are more than 80 such sirens on Maui alone.

Here we are, six months later, and the victims of the Lahaina fire have more questions than answers — and more resentment than government assistance.

Update On The Lahaina, Maui Fire Devastation Zone In Hawaii pic.twitter.com/UDyuKippA7
— Truth Slinger X (@TruthSlingerX) February 1, 2024

Tuesday on TwitterX, Nick Sortor, a frequent government critic and sometimes Tucker Carlson guest, claimed that the Lahaina cleanup "literally just started roughly two weeks ago," and he wants to know why. He also posted:

There are at least 2100 properties charred from the fire
They’re only clearing an average of 2 lots per weekday so far
Only seven trucks are running cleanup

If so, that's a damning report on progress not made after six months. Perhaps even worse, Sortor claimed, "To top it off, even if your lot is cleared, you’re STILL not allowed to start rebuilding."

One factor in the delays might involve legal complications. The AP reported last year that without zoning changes, burned-out residents of Lahaina "might not be able to afford to live there after it is rebuilt."

“Market prices for this new housing are likely to far exceed the already high prices that existed in Lahaina before the fire. For renters, the old housing stock that was destroyed provided opportunities for reasonable rents,” the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization warned. The problem has become known as "disaster gentrification."

Keli’i Akina of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii advised back in October that "families and individuals who owned homes and businesses in Lahaina should not have their property rights arbitrarily stripped away from them to satisfy the grand plans of some bureaucracy." To that end, "the county should offer an expedited permitting process for businesses and homes damaged or destroyed by the fire," but my research today uncovered no local efforts to rezone or streamline processes in Lahaina to favor those who lost everything in the fires.

No wonder people are latching onto conspiracy theories.

One early theory holds that Hawaii may have purposely kept civil defense sirens silent — specifically to burn out longtime locals and replace them with new, wealthier residents.

Another theory claims that blue tarps saved the mansions of billionaires while everyone else's homes burned.

Remember when the BILLIONAIRES in Maui all had their roofs covered in BLUE TARPS, then after the fire, NOTHING BLUE WAS BURNED and they called us all C0NSPIRACY THEORISTS?

What do you think now? https://t.co/DSwdAVh7pU pic.twitter.com/Y0gzjLfFK7
— 𝕏 ƤΔʊ𝐋 ЯΞVΞЯΞ 𝕏𓂀 (@Paul_RevereJr) February 5, 2024

I'm not sure how blue tarps are supposed to have warded off fires so hot that they quickly melted Lahaina fire hydrants, but that's not the issue. The issue is how bad, incompetent, or foot-dragging government breeds contempt and, eventually, paranoia.

What they did to Maui, they now have also done to Chile. Same MO. Neither place was a natural fire. They are deliberately wiping out whole regions, whole populations of people, through directed energy weapons. #Maui #Chile #wildfires #dew #directenergyweapons pic.twitter.com/UqOSmD8ix4
— Gretchen Strater⚓️⛵️🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@GretchenStrater) February 5, 2024

There are so many much easier ways to start fires than directed energy weapons.

But whether you buy into any of the conspiracy theories or not, there is zero doubt that Washington's priorities are completely out of whack:

Migrants Get More Money for Food Than New Yorkers Using SNAP Benefits — Newsweek, Feb. 5

Washington Dems diverted $460M to illegal immigrants into 2023 — KTTH, Feb. 4

Washington state diverted $340M in federal COVID funds to immigrants, including via $1,000 checks — Fox News, Feb. 3

Honestly, some days I'd rather believe that space lasers set Hawaii on fire than the things our government actually does.