Lahaina is a land of very strong winds. At times, it is a place of terribly destructive winds, but this is not a regular occurrence. This is a wind that does not blow all the time. It just blew once a year, for three or four days, and then died down; but these days, several years go by before it blows. This wind, the Kauaʻula, blows from directly above Kauaʻula Valley. The wind begins blowing and for three or four days it roars in the uplands, and then exits seaward. The roaring is heard from above like the crashing of the sea against the base of a cliff. When it blows, it is something truly terrifying—houses topple, coconut trees snap, all the breadfruit trees are hewn into pieces, and banana stalks are all pushed down by this angry wind. It has no friend to calm it down; it is an ʻaumakua that heeds no prayers. While that wind blows, the light of the sun is blocked by the dust from the wind, and Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe are obscured and cannot be seen. The sky turns reddish with the dust. Sleeping areas are turned red as well. The mesh of mats are not discernible, being covered by the dirt. And that makes Lahaina most extreme. That is not how it is in other places here in Hawaiʻi, and this is something that encourages us to have compassion for Lahaina, and it is something that the youths of Lahaina recall.