Steven Tyler‘s daughter Mia Tyler, 44, revealed she and her son Axton, 6, were able to leave Maui amid the deadly fires. “I don’t know where to start,” she began on her Instagram story, shared to her followers on Saturday, Aug. 12. “Halfway through our vacation on Maui we got news that a horrible fire had started an hour north of us. I don’t need to tell you what happened next. All I can say is, it was way worse than what you saw on the news and online,”penned to her 148, 000 followers.
“Many people and animals have lost their lives. Homes destroyed. Sacred buildings burnt to ashes. Thousand of locals and tourists displaced. And the horrors those people had to see and experience,” the Rush Hour 3 star continued. “Trying to keep my family and friends safe was all I could do. We were in a sacred paradise and could do nothing,” she went on to say.
Mia, who is Steven’s daughter with Cyrinda Foxe, then urged others not to travel to the popular vacation destination. “PLEASE DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI, as the hotels are helping to home the people of Maui. The island needs to heal and does not need tourists taking up valuable resources right now,” she said, following with an encouraging post for people to donate to the cause. “The only thing we can do is donate to these wonderful people that need us the most right now. Please help. Any penny helps. I pray this land heals and comes back stronger like it always does.”
Deaths in the historic Lahaina area of Maui were at 93 as of Saturday, Aug. 12 per Maui officials via NPR, with damage at the $6 billion mark. The wildfire is now one of the deadliest in U.S. history in over a century.
How You Can Help: The Hawai’i Community Foundation is accepting donations through its Maui Strong Fund. To donate, visit the fund’s website. Additionally, Maui Food Bank provides “safe and nutritious food” to anyone in Maui County who is at risk of going hungry, the organization says. To donate, visit the food bank’s website.