August 24th 2023.
FEMA officials have been sighted living in $1,000-a-night luxury resorts during the recovery efforts for Maui, just a 45-minute drive from the fire-ravaged town of Lahaina. Locals are not pleased with the sight of the U.S. bureaucratic teams, who were deployed to help them, staying in three five-star beachfront hotels like the Fairmont Kea Lani, Four Seasons, and the Grand Wailea Astoria.
Residents of Maui are furious with FEMA’s response to the deadly wildfires that left many homeless and living in shelters. According to the DailyMail, locals are upset over the spending of their taxpayer dollars on luxury accommodations. Dustin Kaleiopu, a resident whose home was lost in the fire, expressed his frustration to the outlet, saying “So they’re seeing government employees or government volunteers staying in these luxury accommodations being funded by taxpayers, that’s where the frustration comes from.”
In response, FEMA released a statement to the DailyMail, saying “FEMA selects hotels where all responders can be centrally located to ensure the most effective response possible. Due to the lack of available lodging, FEMA negotiated government rates, at the lowest possible cost, for staff temporarily staying in the available hotels.”
Thankfully, celebrities like Floyd Mayweather and Oprah Winfrey, a part-time resident of Maui, have stepped in to help. Mayweather purchased plane tickets to fly nearly 70 residents from Maui to Honolulu. He also paid for hotel rooms for the families for several weeks and supplied them with food from local restaurants. On the other hand, Winfrey donated necessary supplies and her time for the evacuees. She is also reportedly working with retailer H&M to provide the victims with clothing from the store.
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