Like a warzone: Hawaii’s fleeing tourists tell of escape

Guests were finally evacuated to the airport when the hotel ran out of food, she said.

But she was not sure when she would be able to get home, with her flight booked for Saturday, and her husband in a long queue to try to change the tickets.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get a hotel room, or we’ll have to sleep here on the floor,” she said.

Tourists were taken to the airport in school buses, where they were met by volunteers distributing sandwiches and water.

Canadian Brandon Wilson had travelled to Hawaii with his wife to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

But two days after they arrived, the fires cut the power to their AirBnB.

By Thursday morning they were running low on food and had no cash to buy groceries, so they decided to try to leave.

“As we drove through Lahaina it looked like a warzone,” he told AFP.

“It really looks like somebody came along just bombed the whole town. It’s completely devastated.”

“It was really hard to see,” he said, sobbing. “You feel so bad for people. They lost their homes, their lives, their livelihoods.”