LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Recovery efforts continue on Maui, where wildfires decimated the historic town of Lahaina.
Over 6,000 people have been displaced, according to the governor of Hawaii.
Dive teams from the U.S. Navy were in the ocean, initiating the final stage of the recovery effort, searching the water for any of the deceased. So far, the fire killed at least 115 people and destroyed over 2,000 structures.
One of those structures was the Perez family's home. I had the chance to speak with them. After losing everything, they told me they are planning to move to Las Vegas to restart their lives.
The people of Lahaina are still recovering from the devastation, and residents like the Perez family, who lost everything, are figuring out how to start their lives over again.
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"What comes to mind for both of you when you look at the devastation?" I asked the family.
"It just hurts," they said.
Brazlee and Sergio Perez lived in their Lahaina home for four years with their children, ages five and eight.
They told me they not only lost their home, but their car, pictures of their children and even their jobs.
"Very impactful, it's heartbreaking and devastating. The fears that I have," Brazlee said. "This is the town I grew up in. My roots are there."
The Perez family is staying in a hotel 10 minutes from where their home once stood.
"It's hard to understand how we went from being OK and stable with jobs and a home, to basically nothing," Sergio said.
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They say Lahaina is no longer where they want to raise their family. Now, they are looking at moving to what many call the "Ninth Island."
"When we say Las Vegas, we see hope in all of it even though we don't have a house that we don't have anything, we are going somewhere where we know there is positivity," the Perez's said.
They say getting a new home and restarting a life in Maui is currently out of reach for them.
Perez says Las Vegas is more affordable and jobs are available. They can also remove their kids from the devastation.
"Just for our kids to have some kind of stability of going to school, being able to play with friends, they are not playing with no friends right now," the couple said.
The Perez family expects to be in Las Vegas in less than a month to rebuild their lives in the valley.
"We lost Lahaina, and although the roots lay in the Lahaina people's heart," the two said. "For my kids to have to see this and see this happening, that's a bad sight for them."
