Images on Twitter show dramatic aftermath of recent heavy rain in Hawaii

[Carla_Sinclair]

Originally published at: Images on Twitter show dramatic aftermath of recent heavy rain in Hawaii | Boing Boing

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[MadLibrarian]

The east side of Maui was just as badly hit. One of the old reservoirs overflowed, 6 houses were destroyed or washed away, and we had to open 2 emergency shelters for people evacuating (or in Hana’s case, tourists who didn’t realize just how much impact heavy rains would have on their ability to leave Hana). People have been saying they haven’t seen it this bad in 30+ years.

[diebriandie]

I was talking to someone on reddit the other day about how expensive it is to live on Hawaii compared to other expensive places in the US (since it’s one of my dreams to someday live in the US). His response however soon made me realize how fragile the state of things is and how Covid made it worse for everyone. This is their response:

Yes. Gas, food, and basic housing is all more expensive. But the biggest problem is that especially without tourism, there are very few opportunities to earn the money needed to afford the high cost of living. The pandemeic has brought a flood of West Coasters who had the ability to telework while still earning their $100,000K salaries, which put further pressure on the housing market, so while it is good to have people on island with some disposable income to spend, there are still not enough to keep all the restaurants open, and they aren’t staying at hotels or doing tourist activities enough to keep those businesses open, but are looking for (and able to pay whatever for) 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, which many local families can no longer afford due to the loss of the tourist economy. So, yes, things are very expensive, AND there are many fewer opportunities to earn the money necessary in Hawaii compared to San Francisco. It’s a real conundrum with no good answer.