LAHAINA, Hawaii (NewsNation) — Cell phones were rendered useless and communication towers burnt to a crisp when flames engulfed the idyllic Maui community of Lahaina earlier in the week.
But calls for help were still answered.
While emergency officials rushed to aid residents, its generational residents turned to an old, but still solid form of communication: The “coconut wireless.”
The Hawaiian slang term, referring to a form of messaging spread through word-of-mouth, became a critical line of communication for residents suffering in the aftermath of the nation’s deadliest wildfire that left more than 100 people dead and thousands homeless.
“The coconut wireless was sent out,” said Jareth LumLung, a Native Hawaiian who set up the Kahana Ohana donation hub. “As soon as the word got out, it doesn’t matter how far away someone is, they are going to have word that family, friends need help and they’ll just come by the hoards.”
In the immediate aftermath of the fires, boats arrived daily ashore at Kahana Boat Ramp, about 20 miles north of Lahaina. Relief came in from the islands of Molokai, Oahu, and the Big Island of Hawaii. Residents there had heard the coconut wireless call and responded in droves.
“We had boats coming in by the ton loads,” LumLung said.
Without any means of communication, much of the operation has been carried out with minimal notice. The only forewarning that a boat is coming is by detecting its silhouette in the distant ocean. Even as supplies flow in, it’s unclear who most of the benefactors have been.
Each boat is stuffed to the brim with basic essentials: Medicine, toiletries, generators, gasoline and water bottles. Once the boat is anchored into the sand, volunteers form a human chain to pass the provisions to the shoreline.
LumLung said when the inferno erupted, their lifeline was cut off, isolating them from the rest of the island. So they turned to the Hawaiian culture, which is the “core of everything that we are here.”
NewsNation’s Thomas Burr contributed to this story.