Officials in Lahaina are trying to get mental health support to displaced residents

Besides the challenges of displacement and recovery, officials are scrambling to support the enormous mental health needs of Lahaina residents traumatized by the deadliest wildfire in modern history.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

First responders on Maui continue to work long hours trying to recover and identify remains of more than a hundred people killed in the wildfire that incinerated much of the historic resort town of Lahaina. Survivors are still dealing with physical challenges like where to live in the coming weeks and months. But the size of the emotional and psychological toll is coming into sharp review, and the need for mental health support grows, as NPR’s Eric Westervelt reports from Maui.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE: The scale of the physical damage in the historic center of Lahaina is clear in its apocalyptic landscape of rubble, ash and debris. But the scale of the inner damage can be seen in a 5-year-old girl that Maui’s chief mental health administrator, John Oliver, saw the other day. The girl came in with her mother into this Lahaina health clinic clutching a green-and-purple plushy stuffed animal. She seemed withdrawn and afraid.

JOHN OLIVER: I got down to her level, and, you know, I asked her her name and how she was doing and, you know, asked about her stuffed animal. And then she just offered up, and she said, I’m very sad. And I said, I’m so sorry. I said, why are you sad? And she said, I’m sad because I saw a lot of dead bodies.

WESTERVELT: Oliver told the girl how sorry he was and tried to reassure her, saying, I want you to know that you’re safe now.

OLIVER: She smiled. We continued to play for a little bit, and she said, you know, I really miss my friend. And I said, I’m sorry to hear that, also. At that point, the psychiatrist came in. And, you know, I talked briefly with the mom, and she shared that when she says she misses her friend, it’s her best friend.

WESTERVELT: That friend died in the fire….