‘Shock and devastation’: Beloved Maui spots suffer major damage after giant storm

As tropical storm Lala passed Maui, heavy rain and wind sent a massive tree crashing into beloved businesses in the small town of Makawao.

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Tori Olaitiman first learned something was wrong at Ohana Island Grindz on Sunday when she got a call from her mother, who works at Rodeo General Store a few stores away.

“She told us, you know, ‘I think you guys need to come. I think there might be a tree on the roof,’” Olaitiman told SFGATE. Olaitiman, who owns the family-run restaurant and ice cream shop with her husband, opened Ohana Island Grindz in 2021.

Concerned, they rushed to the restaurant, unsure of what they would find. From the front, there was little sign of any damage, and they thought it might not be so bad — until they went inside.

“A giant rainbow eucalyptus tree in the back of our building area came crashing down onto our roof and our deck,” Olaitiman said. Inside, there was water on the floor, part of the roof had caved in and rainwater was leaking into the kitchen.

Olaitiman was shocked as they walked around and began discovering all of the damage. “We have an enclosed outdoor patio, and it fell directly onto that and our neighboring business, which is Haku Maui,” she said.

Haku Maui is a lei shop, retail store and community hub where people gathered for lei workshops. The two businesses are connected by an outdoor space.

Seeing how badly the tree damaged Haku Maui, Olaitiman called owner Britney Allencastre. When Allencastre arrived, she found both of Haku Maui’s buildings in ruins. Portions of the roof had collapsed, beams were on the ground, and the office and storage areas had caved in.

“I was in complete shock and devastation,” Allencastre told SFGATE.

“It’s crazy because my desk where I sit was, I mean, somebody could’ve died, it was just, it’s horrible,” she said.

The destruction comes just months before Haku Maui would have marked 10 years in its Makawao shop. “Yesterday was a lot of shock, and it’s like these stages of grief and you’re just in all of your emotions and you’re kind of mourning that loss of this space that was your home,” Allencastre said.

Ohana Island Grindz was also approaching a milestone. The family-owned restaurant was just weeks away from its fifth anniversary.

“We opened during COVID, and then we made it through the fires almost exactly three years ago,” Olaitiman said. During the Lahaina fires, the restaurant stopped regular operations to serve meals to families in need. Now, the storm has brought another setback in its relatively short history.

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Both Haku Maui and Ohana Island Grindz have launched GoFundMe campaigns as they try to determine what rebuilding will require.

The small town of Makawao, known for its paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) history, is filled with small shops, galleries and restaurants. While Haku Maui and Ohana Island Grindz face potentially lengthy recoveries, other Makawao businesses that did not sustain damage remain open.

For now, neither Ohana Island Grindz nor Haku Maui knows exactly what it will take to rebuild.

At Haku Maui, some products and furniture were salvaged, while other furniture and equipment, including refrigeration used to store lei and flowers, were damaged. With rain still leaking through the roofs, Allencastre said the immediate priority was to salvage as much as possible and get it out of the buildings.

But removing the fallen tree could bring another challenge. Allencastre worries about what could happen to the buildings’ foundations and structures, particularly because they sit above a steep drop. “Structurally, we don’t know what will happen to these buildings, so that’s why, OK, rebuild the buildings, that may take a long time,” she said.

Ohana Island Grindz is also waiting for answers. Olaitiman said she’s working with the property owners, property management team and insurance companies to determine what the next steps might be.

“We’re not sure what rebuilding or relaunching is going to look like just yet,” she said. “But we know that we will need help to get back on our feet.”

As Allencastre grieves the loss of the place that had become a home over nearly 10 years, she said the community that gathered around Haku Maui is now gathering around her. “We’ve received a lot of calls and messages and they mean a lot to us,” she said. “It just gives you this strength and courage, and I understand that not everyone is in a place to be able to give financially, and even if they help share it, send it out to people and as we come up with a plan or solution for us, we’ll be able to ask for help in different ways.”

Editor’s note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.