beauvaisAug 18, 2023
BellingenNSW

Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui?

"Big corporations, golf courses and hotels have been taking water from locals for years. Now the fire may result in even more devastating water theft."

"All over Maui, golf courses glisten emerald green, hotels manage to fill their pools and corporations stockpile water to sell to luxury estates. And yet, when it came time to fight the fires, some hoses ran dry. Why?"

"This is a classic case of the most craven disaster capitalism: a small elite group using a profound human tragedy as their window to roll back a hard-won grassroots victory for water rights, while removing civil servants who pose a political inconvenience to the administration’s pro-developer agenda."...
by Naomi Klein and Kapuaʻala Sproat

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/17/hawaii-fires-maui-water-rights-disaster-capitalism
#bushfires #disasters #water #rights #theft #golf #plantations #developers #resorts #SettlerCulture

Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui?

Big corporations, golf courses and hotels have been taking water from locals for years. Now the fire may result in even more devastating water theft

The Guardian
Aug 18, 2023 at 12:13amWeb
Show threadexcited for the mastodon riseAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen I suggest lighting the owners and their lawyers on fire. A modest proposal.
Show threadJennifer DeseoAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen Neocolonialism, though I'd argue the original colonialism never ended.
Show threaddontonyAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen can we #bangolf
Show threadDogzillaAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen Would water really have helped with a massive fire driven by 100kph winds? I kinda doubt it. I think we want to believe we could have done something if only X, but seems to me everyone was just at the mercy of nature in that fire cause there’s nothing humans could have done to change anything about that fire once it started
Show threadPonygirlAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen NEWSFLASH! RICH PEOPLE TURN AMERICA INTO A SHITHOLE!!
Show threadOGJester has movedAug 18, 2023
@Ponygirl @Bellingen They turn everything into a shithole. They always have and they always will. Probably ought to think about doing away with rich people.
Show threadbeauvaisAug 18, 2023
@Bellingen Pourtant une île est entourée d'eau,autant que je sache!
Show threadKenBallwegAug 18, 2023

@Bellingen all that yes, AND, there were 80+ mph downdraft winds that came off the mountain unexpectedly, snapped power poles at the base, most likely igniting the fires, and cutting off power to the pumps that are key to that part of Maui's water system causing fire hydrants to go dry. Doesn't negate what you are saying, but it is a more complex cascade of failures.

https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1690833566694100992

KanekoaTheGreat on Twitter

“Powerlines fell over from 80 mph wind gusts before the devastating fire raged through the historic town of Lahaina, Maui.”

Twitter