Kai Lenny Frustrated by Lack of Aid to Maui Fire Victims

Kai Lenny is a pretty mellow dude, typically.

Whether he's surfing massive Jaws, pushing the innovation meter to the red zone in maxing surf, or any other of his crazy stunts, he's calm, cool, collected.

But when it comes to the devastating wildfires in Maui, he's a bit frustrated.

“At one moment, you’re in beautiful Hawaii, and it’s just another great day, and then the next this amazing tragedy occurs,” the Maui native says in the CBS interview above.

“And I don’t know what to do…like, I haven’t prepared for an entire town to go up in flames.

“For some of us, we were sitting back and waiting for help to arrive, and nothing was happening. We were in shock. I started getting texts from friends, saying, ‘nobody is here. Do you know anyone you can call? Can you help us?’

“It started with boots on the ground…let’s get the jetskis, let’s get the boats, let’s call the friends who fly aircrafts and charter a plane. We took it upon ourselves.

“We thought we could do a full day to hold ourselves over before the caravan arrives with everything. Then it was day after day…where are they?

“I haven’t seen one state, one county, one federal official at any of the donation hubs where people are most suffering.

“It’s pretty remarkable seeing these communities come together. Some of them are very chaotic, because they’re bringing in supplies from the ocean.

“As soon as you go to the west side, it feels like a third world country.”

Many donation sites, and crowdsourcing organizations have popped up in the aftermath of the catastrophic Maui fires; but like Kai mentioned, things are a bit convoluted.

The other day, Kelly Slater spoke about the catastrophe, and pledged to get some relief efforts underway; additionally multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos donated $100 million.

For more information on how to help Maui, and to donate support, check out our coverage of the catastrophe and relief efforts here, here, and here.

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