ABC News will launch a new reporting initiative — “Maui Strong 808″ — focused on the victims and communities piecing their lives back together following the catastrophic fire that devastated West Maui on Aug. 8, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history.
- Every eighth of the month, commemorating the date the wildfires took place and Hawaii’s area code, “Maui Strong 808″ will provide in-depth storytelling and reporting across programs and platforms, chronicling the impact of the crisis, ongoing relief and recovery efforts, and the strength and spirit of the local community.
- “Maui Strong: 808″ will launch Friday, September 8, on the one-month anniversary of the wildfires, focusing on “Keiki,” the Hawaiian word for children or little ones.
- As children begin their school year during a moment of grieving for the island, ABC News will tell the stories of the families, children and teachers who have lost their homes and schools, shining a light on how the youngest in the community are coping with their grief and healing.
- Friday’s coverage begins on Good Morning America and continues throughout the day on World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, GMA3: What You Need to Know, ABC News Live and World News Now.
- ABC News reconnects with a family that correspondent Becky Worley met just days after the Lahaina fire as they work to pick up the pieces and determine the best solutions for housing and education.
- Worley, who grew up on Maui, will also report from Sacred Hearts Mission Church, where students from Sacred Hearts School at Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina were forced to relocate due to significant damage.
- ABC News will report on a teacher whose former student, along with family members spanning three generations, tragically perished in the fire and a mother living in a hotel room with her 6-year-old son, waiting for a new school to open.
- ABC News Digital has launched immersive storytelling page on ABCNews.com, detailing the events, aftermath and recovery through photos, videos, graphics and text.
- Stories on the recovery and rebuilding, the families and children impacted by the wildfires, and additional reporting and coverage can be found here.
- Over the next year, “Maui Strong 808″ will focus on different angles of this unfolding and historic story, using Hawaiian words as themes, an homage to the community’s deep cultural roots, their care for one another and the island, and their strength and resilience in moving forward, in addition to day-to-day coverage on news and developments around the wildfires.