, YOU KNOW, TRAGEDY AND NOW WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD. MAX GORDON IS A LIVE FOR US IN A MAUI AND MAX. I KNOW THAT YOU WOULD JUST LANDED JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO OVER AT THE CAR IN KAHULUI AIRPORT, AND I KNOW A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE STILL TRYING TO GET OUT OF THIS MORNING, RIGHT? YEAH ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW , THIS MORNING IS GOING TO BE ANOTHER BIG DAY FOR EVACUEES AS OFFICIALS TRY TO GET PEOPLE OFF OF THE ISLAND AROUND 600. PEOPLE ARE REPORTED TO BE SPENDING THE NIGHT AT THE AIRPORT TONIGHT, SO IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG ONE FOR FOLKS, BUT LUCKILY THEY ARE SAFE THERE AT THE AIRPORT WHERE WE'RE STANDING RIGHT NOW. WE'RE NEXT TO A GROUP OF FIREFIGHTERS. THEY'RE KEEPING TABS ON ONE OF THE HOT SPOTS HERE. YOU CAN ACTUALLY KIND OF SEE IT OFF INTO THE DISTANCE. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE PHOTO JOURNALIST ANDY ANDERSON PAN ON OVER THERE, YOU CAN SEE THAT THIS IS STILL AN ACTIVE SITUATION HERE ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI AND THAT THERE ARE STILL FLARE UPS THAT ARE BURNING AT THIS HOUR, THOUGH. LUCKILY NOT AT THE INTENSITY THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS NOW, THIS REALLY GOT GOING ON TUESDAY. FIRE OFFICIALS SAY THEY STILL DON'T KNOW WHY THESE FIRES STARTED. BUT REALLY WHEN THEY DID. THE ISLAND OF MAUI WAS JUST AN ABSOLUTE TINDERBOX CONDITIONS WERE VERY DRY VEGETATION WAS VERY DRY IN THE HUMIDITY WAS VERY LOW AND THEN THESE FLAMES WERE WHIPPED UP BY FEROCIOUS WINDS UP TO 80 85 MPH IN SOME CASES, REALLY, THAT WAS ALL SPUN UP BY HURRICANE DORA, WHICH WAS MOVING FEW 100 MILES OFF THE SHORE OF HAWAII, BUT STILL BROUGHT WITH IT SOME VERY INTENSE WIND ACTIVITY IN THE UNFORTUNATELY THAT LED TO SOME COMMUNITIES JUST BEING ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED THE COMMUNITY OF LAHAINA, A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION, A VERY HISTORIC BUT A BEAUTIFUL TOWN. BLOCK AFTER BLOCK BURNED TO THE GROUND. SOME PEOPLE HAD TO ESCAPE THE FLAMES BY JUMPING INTO THE OCEAN. TAKE A LISTEN TO ONE SURVIVOR. WAS THE LAST ONE OFF, DOC. WITH THE FIRE STORM CAME THROUGH THE BANYAN TREE AND TOOK EVERYTHING WITH IT. AND I JUST RAN OUT TO THE BEACH , AND I JUST HELPED EVERYBODY I COULD ALONG THE WAY. YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW WHEN YOU CAN FEEL. AND SOME TERRIBLE, HARROWING IMAGES COMING OUT OF LAHAINA. WE DO HAVE A BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE SATELLITE PHOTOS TAKEN JUST OF THE COMMUNITY THAT SHOWS REALLY HOW MUCH DEVASTATION THERE IS. YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST SUCH A TOUGH TIME FOR SO MANY PEOPLE. IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LONG TIME FOR A LOT OF FOLKS HERE TO GET BACK ON THEIR FEET. RIGHT NOW. THE EFFORT IS STILL UNDERWAY TO GET FOLKS OFF OF THE ISLAND TO GET TOURISTS OUT OF HERE. SO FAR AROUND 11,000 TOURISTS HAVE BEEN TAKEN OFF OF HAWAII FLOWN OUT OF YOUR TAKING OFF THE ISLAND OF MAUI. RATHER THERE IS A SHELTER THAT'S BEEN OPENED UP ON THE ISLAND OF OAHU FOR BOTH TOURISTS AND EVACUEES TO GO TO. THERE'S FOUR SHELTERS THAT HAVE BEEN OPENED UP HERE ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI. AROUND 2000 RESIDENTS HAVE HAD TO EVACUATE. SO A LOT OF DISPLACED PEOPLE RIGHT NOW AND STILL A LOT OF FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW THE STATUS OF THEIR HOME, SO IT'S GOING TO BE A TOUGH COUPLE OF DAYS AS SOME FOLKS RETURN TO REALLY NOTHING, GUYS. MAX WHAT WAS THE FLIGHT LIKE OVER TO HAWAII? I MEAN, THIS IS HONESTLY THE ONLY THING I THINK MOST AMERICANS HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE LAST 24 HOURS. I MEAN, OUR DID YOU RUN INTO TOURISTS THOUGHT SOMEHOW THIS WAS STILL GOING TO WORK OUT WHERE YOU MORE RUNNING INTO PEOPLE THAT LIVE ON MAUI TRYING TO GET HOME. WHAT WAS THE FEEL? YES SO WE FIRST ATTEMPTED TO FLY FROM LOS ANGELES TO THE ISLAND OF MAUI DIRECTLY. THAT FLIGHT GOT CANCELED , SO WE FLEW FROM LOS ANGELES TO OAHU TO HONOLULU, AND THEN WE TOOK AN ISLAND HOPPER FROM OAHU OVER TO THE ISLAND OF MAUI. THAT'S REALLY THE ONLY FLIGHTS THAT ARE COMING IN AND OUT OR KIND OF THESE INTER ISLAND FLIGHTS AS THEY'RE TRYING TO GET FOLKS REALLY OUT OF MAUI. OUR FLIGHT INTO NOW HE WAS RELATIVELY EMPTY, PROBABLY LESS THAN HALF FULL. I'D SAY, MAYBE, YOU KNOW REALLY ONLY 3/8 FULL . NOT VERY MANY FOLKS ON THERE. I DON'T THINK MANY PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE IMPRESSION ANYMORE THAT IF THEY HAD A VACATION ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI PLAN THAT IT WAS GOING TO GO AS PLANNED. YOU KNOW THE WORD FROM OFFICIALS REALLY THE OVERARCHING MESSAGE JUST AS BAD IF YOU HAVE THOSE VACATION PLANS, DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. BUT THEY HAVE BEEN TELLING PEOPLE THAT HEY, IF YOU WANT TO GO TO ANOTHER ISLAND, HAWAII IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS. YOU KNOW, ON OTHER ISLANDS, YOU KNOW, HAWAII STILL HAS HOTEL ROOMS LEFT THEIR HOTEL ROOMS LEFT ON OTHER ISLANDS. SO REALLY GO TO THOSE PLACES . BUT DON'T GO TO MAUI RIGHT NOW, MAX, BEFORE YOU GO, ONE LAST QUICK QUESTION HERE. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE AIR QUALITY BECAUSE, OBVIOUSLY LOOKING AT THE VIDEO SEEING ALL OF THAT SMOKE THERE, I WOULD THINK THAT THERE'S AT LEAST A VERY DECENT SMELL OF FIRE STILL PRESENT ON THE ISLAND. YEAH ABSOLUTELY. IT KIND OF DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU ARE ON THE ISLAND. IN SOME AREAS. THE SMOKE IS HEAVIER THAN OTHERS. LUCKILY THE FIRE ACTIVITY HAS DIED DOWN OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS. AS WE WERE FLYING IN, YOU COULD SEE A LOT OF FLAMES , BUT THOSE HAVE DIED DOWN GRADUALLY AND THE SMOKE HAS AS WELL. BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU ARE THE WIND DIRECTION AND THEN LUCKILY SOME OF THAT SMOKE IS DISPERSED AS WELL AS WE'VE SEEN LESS FIRE ACTIVITY. SO THE AIR QUALITY RIGHT NOW WHERE WE'RE STANDING IS RELATIVELY GOOD. OTHERWISE
