The death toll is rising on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Many were lucky enough to escape from the historic coastal town of Lahaina, but others persevered. And now? “There’s nothing left. Just ashes.”
Maybe a little early drive from Lahaina, just a few minutes. This is how the photographer Radka Leitmeritz describes her thoughts on the phone on Tuesday afternoon when the hurricane warning reached her in the northwest of the Hawaiian island of Maui. The power had already gone out anyway, so why not leave a little earlier towards the airport? Leitmeritz was in this paradise to relax a little with her son before the tennis grand slam in New York, where work is waiting for her again. A friend had joined her to promote a sustainability project with the restaurants and hotels in the area. “An hour after we left, it started to burn,” says Leitmeritz. Paradise turned to hell.