MMA fighter Ilima-Lei Macfarlane raises $2.5 million for the fires in Hawaii

22 August 2023

Former Bellator Champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane has raised $2.5 Million for the fires in Hawaii.

The MMA star setup a crowdfunding campaign on her Instagram page and the same has surpassed the target of $1 Million and collected more than expected. A couple of weeks back she had also posted a video on her Instagram page about the campaign which saw donations from a string of MMA fighters as well including names like UFC star Michelle Waterson and more than 80 thousand others.

In the early days of August 2023, a series of devastating wildfires erupted in the state of Hawaii in the United States, primarily impacting the island of Maui. Fueled by strong winds, these fires triggered evacuations, inflicted extensive destruction, and tragically claimed the lives of a minimum of 115 individuals, while 850 others were reported as missing in the town of Lāhainā.

The severity of the wildfires stemmed from dry, blustery conditions generated by a potent high-pressure system situated north of Hawaii, combined with the presence of Hurricane Dora to the south.

In response, an emergency declaration was enacted on August 8th, enabling several critical measures.

These included the deployment of the Hawaii National Guard, empowered actions by the director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the Administrator of Emergency Management, and the utilization of state general revenue funds to address the repercussions of the fires. By August 9th, the government of Hawaii issued a state of emergency encompassing the entire state. On August 10th, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a federal major disaster declaration in acknowledgment of the dire situation.

In the case of the fire in Lāhainā, it was calculated that the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimated a staggering tally of more than 2,200 structures destroyed.

The majority of these structures were residential, with a particularly heartbreaking impact on numerous historical landmarks in Lāhainā. The collective destruction caused by the fire was appraised at a staggering sum, approaching nearly $6 billion.

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