文章來源：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》Jul 29th 2023 期 United States 欄目 Maui wildfires 夏威夷大火

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When king?Kamehameha I united the Hawaiian islands in the early 1800s, he made Lahaina the capital of his new kingdom.?The seaside city on western Maui was his?crown jewel.?Missionaries?and whalers flocked to its shores.?Kings and queens were buried in the graveyard of Waiola church. Later, it became a tourist destination.?Surf shops, bars and museums lined its streets; 13,000 people called Lahaina home.?Now an ashen moonscape lies between the mountains and the sea where it once stood.

當(dāng)卡美哈美哈國王一世在19世紀(jì)初統(tǒng)一夏威夷群島時(shí)，他將拉海納定為新王國的首都。毛伊島西部的海濱城市是他的重城。傳教士和捕鯨者蜂擁而至。國王和王后都埋葬在懷奧拉教堂的墓地里。后來，這里成了旅游勝地。沖浪店、酒吧和博物館鱗次櫛比；1.3萬人以拉海納為家。如今，曾經(jīng)矗立的山脈和海洋之間的拉海納，變成了一片灰暗的月球地貌。

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The wildfire that swept through town on August 8th was indiscriminate.?Scores of birds lie dead on the ground throughout the burn zone, felled by flames or the toxins they released.?White?picket?fences melted. For many homes, the only thing left is the scorched?husk?of a washing machine sitting amid?rubble?where a laundry room once stood.?Skeletons of cars sit where they were overtaken by the?inferno. Some drivers abandoned their vehicles, climbed over the seawall and threw themselves into the Pacific to escape the flames.

8月8日，野火無情地席卷了整個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)。成群的鳥類尸躺在燃燒區(qū)的地上，被火焰或火焰釋放的毒素奪命。白色尖樁籬笆融化了。對(duì)于許多房屋而言，唯一留下的只有燒焦的洗衣機(jī)殘骸，它們坐落在曾經(jīng)有洗衣間的廢墟之中。汽車的骨架停靠在火海襲來之處。一些司機(jī)放棄車輛，翻過海堤，跳入太平洋，逃離熊熊烈焰。

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As of August 16th the fire had killed at least 111 people, making it the deadliest blaze America has seen in more than a century. The death?toll?is certain to climb.?Rescue crews and dozens of?cadaver?dogs are still searching the burned area. More than 1,000 people are missing.

截至8月16日，火災(zāi)已造成至少111人死亡，成為美國一個(gè)多世紀(jì)以來最致命的大火。死亡人數(shù)肯定還會(huì)上升。救援隊(duì)伍和數(shù)十只尋尸犬仍在燃燒區(qū)域進(jìn)行搜尋。目前已有1000多人失蹤。

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Several factors contributed to Lahaina’s demise.?Drought worsened rapidly on Maui this summer; rainfall has declined in Hawaii over the past 30 years as the climate has warmed; invasive (and flammable) grasses have flourished on what used to be farmland; and high winds brought by Hurricane Dora provided the right conditions for a blaze to form—and to spread.?All that was needed was a spark. What ignited the fire is still uncertain.?But?testimony?and videos from Lahaina residents suggest that a utility pole snapped in the wind, breaking a power line. Sparks quickly became flames.

幾個(gè)因素導(dǎo)致了拉海納的大火。今年夏天，毛伊島的旱情迅速惡化；過去 30 年來，隨著氣候變暖，夏威夷的降雨量逐漸減少；入侵性（且易燃）牧草在曾經(jīng)的農(nóng)田上生長茂盛；颶風(fēng)“多拉”帶來的強(qiáng)風(fēng)為大火的形成和蔓延提供了合適的條件。萬事俱備，只需一個(gè)火花。引燃火災(zāi)的具體原因尚不清楚。但拉海納居民的證詞和視頻顯示，一根電線桿在風(fēng)中折斷，導(dǎo)致電線斷裂。火花迅速變成了火焰。

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Besides the cause of the fire, two questions are playing on the minds of Maui residents.?First, is why the island’s warning system did not alert locals to the danger.?Outdoor sirens throughout the islands are meant to be used to warn Hawaiians of all manner of hazards, from tsunamis to wildfires to terrorist threats.?But as flames consumed 2,200 buildings (which would cost $5.5bn to rebuild) all 80 sirens in Maui County were silent.

除了火災(zāi)原因之外，毛伊島居民還關(guān)心兩個(gè)問題。首先是島上的警報(bào)系統(tǒng)為何沒有提醒當(dāng)?shù)鼐用褡⒁馕ｋU(xiǎn)。夏威夷各處的戶外警報(bào)器本應(yīng)用于警示夏威夷人各種危害，包括海嘯、山火和恐怖威脅。但當(dāng)火勢吞噬了2200棟建筑（重建需要55 億美元）時(shí)，毛伊縣的所有 80 個(gè)警報(bào)器都鴉雀無聲。

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Herman Andaya, Maui’s emergency management chief, has defended the decision not to use the sirens, arguing that locals might have sought safety on higher ground, as they would for a tsunami, and ended up in the middle of the fire.

毛伊島應(yīng)急管理負(fù)責(zé)人赫爾曼·安達(dá)亞辯稱，決定不使用警報(bào)器是因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)鼐用窨赡軙?huì)前往高地求生，就像面對(duì)海嘯時(shí)那樣，結(jié)果可能會(huì)陷入火海之中。

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Yet the flames swallowed the town anyway. That the fire took Lahaina by surprise should serve as a warning, both for places accustomed to extreme weather, and those that are not.?A warming climate means disasters such as fires and floods will become more common and more severe, making it?imperative?that towns routinely update and test their emergency warning systems and?evacuation?plans.

然而，火焰還是吞噬了整個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)。這場大火讓拉海納措手不及，這對(duì)習(xí)慣極端天氣的地方和不習(xí)慣極端天氣的地方都是一個(gè)警示教訓(xùn)。氣候變暖意味著火災(zāi)和洪水等災(zāi)害將變得更加高頻和嚴(yán)重，因此城鎮(zhèn)必須定期更新和測試其緊急預(yù)警系統(tǒng)和疏散計(jì)劃。

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The second question is where to house people who have lost everything.?The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kahului turned its basketball gym into an emergency shelter.?Volunteers used?tarps?to create separate bedrooms, each with an air mattress and some blankets.?America’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is putting fire victims up in hotel rooms. But these are short-term solutions.?“The need for housing in the mid-term and long-term is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of this recovery,” says Keith Turi, a FEMA official.

第二個(gè)問題是如何安置失去家園的民眾?？êR伊的耶穌基督后期圣徒教會(huì)將其籃球館改造成緊急避難所。志愿者用防水布搭建了獨(dú)立的臥室，每個(gè)臥室都有一個(gè)氣墊床和一些毯子。美國聯(lián)邦緊急事務(wù)管理局 (FEMA) 正在將火災(zāi)受害者安置在酒店房間里。但這些都是短期解決方案。聯(lián)邦應(yīng)急管理局官員基思·圖里表示：“中長期住房需求將成為此次災(zāi)后重建工作最具挑戰(zhàn)的問題之一?！?/p>

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Making things worse is Hawaii’s housing shortage. The state’s median listing price is nearly twice the nation’s.?In 2019 the Maui Economic Development Board reckoned that 51% of workers in the county were employed by the tourism industry.?If visitors stay away because of the fires, or hotel rooms are filled with survivors instead of vacationers, the local economy will suffer.

更糟糕的是夏威夷面臨住房短缺問題。該州的中位掛牌房價(jià)幾乎是全國的2倍。2019 年，毛伊島經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展委員會(huì)估計(jì)，該縣有51％的工人從事旅游業(yè)。如果由于大火的原因游客不來了，或者酒店房間中住滿了幸存者而不是度假者，當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)濟(jì)將受到影響。

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For now, Lahaina’s residents are scattered across Maui,?mourning?the loss of their homes and their history.?Many locals say they want to rebuild what they lost. Ms Fonohema chokes up as she recalls what the town’s streets were like before the blaze. “Lahaina will always be home,” she says, “but it won’t be the same.”

目前，拉海納的居民分散在毛伊島各地，悼念他們失去的家園和歷史。許多當(dāng)?shù)厝苏f，他們希望重建失去的一切。福諾希馬女士回憶起火災(zāi)前小鎮(zhèn)街道的情景，不禁哽咽起來。她說：“拉海納將永遠(yuǎn)是我的家，但再也回不到從前的樣子了?！?/p>