Photo: Deanne Fitzmaurice for NPR. Retrieved from npr.org
It was six months ago that deadly wildfires swept through Lahaina, killing 100 people and destroying the historic town, as well as homesin central Maui. In the immediate aftermath of the fires, officials discouraged all non-essential travel to West Maui, where Lahaina is located. And visitor arrivals for the whole island dropped precipitously – in August they were down almost 58% from August the previous year.