Jason Momoa warns tourists to send aid, not themselves, to Maui right now
"Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply," Momoa wrote on Instagram
Jason Momoa has issued a statement to tourists in the wake of the fires that have swept across the Hawaiian island of Maui over the last week: Send aid—but not yourselves.
Momoa, a Honolulu native, posted the message to his Instagram account this weekend, writing, “Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now. DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI. Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply.” Momoa underscored his comments with videos of the wildfires, which have killed at least 80 people over the last week, devastating towns like Lahaina, on the west side of the island, and doing widespread damage across the region.
“If you were planning on traveling to Maui in the near future, cancel your trip,” Momoa’s video pleads. “Our community needs time to heal, grieve, and restore. That means the less visitors on island taking up critical resources that have become extremely limited the better.” The video goes on to ask viewers not to book hotel rooms in Maui, which are currently being used to house displace survivors, or to book flights, after airlines dropped costs to allow for easier evacuation from the island.
Instead, Momoa encourages people to donate to the Hawaii Community Foundation Maui County Strong Fund, which is working to provide disaster relief to Maui. Moana star Auli’i Cravalho made a similar plea on her own social media, linking to groups accepting donations, expressing her horror at the devestation wrought by the fires, and reminding people: “DO NOT TRAVEL TO HAWAIʻI UNLESS YOU ARE RENDERING AID. This has been declared a FEDERAL DISASTER. Your vacation can wait.”
Per CNN, the fires in the region have now been mostly contained. Damage in the area is reportedly being estimated at more than $5 billion.