LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Inside Pacific Island Taste, the sounds of island music and the smell of traditional food offer a familiar sense of home.
For many in Las Vegas’ Hawaiian community, places like this are more than restaurants, they’re a connection to the islands.
WATCH| Alyssa Bethencourt talks to an employee who recently visited family in Hawaii
But right now, that connection comes with concern.
Hawaii is facing some of its worst flooding in more than two decades, after days of heavy rain triggered widespread damage across parts of the state. Homes have been flooded, roads shut down, and families forced to evacuate, particularly on Oahu and Maui, where impacts have been severe.
For people here in Las Vegas, often called Hawaii’s “9th Island”, the disaster feels personal.
“It is just shocking,” said Candace Kukahiko-Beard, an employee at Pacific Island Taste who recently returned from Hawaii.
“Families are being displaced in Wailua, they’re devastated because it’s a farming community and they don’t have anywhere to go,” she said.
Candace says when she was there, conditions had not yet reached the level they are now.
“At the time, it wasn’t as catastrophic as it is now,” she said.
While her own family remains safe, she says watching what others are going through has been emotional.
“Emotional to see all of that because I’m fortunate enough to have my family still have their home and to be away from that,” she said. “But even though I don’t know them, it’s still devastating.”
In Hawaii, she says, community is everything, especially during difficult times.
“If you don’t have community, you don’t have nothing… and the Hawaii people, they show up. It’s special.”
That same sense of support extends thousands of miles away. Still, for many, the reality of what families are facing back home is hard to grasp.
“I wouldn’t be able to imagine what they’re going through,” Candace said. “When you have generational homes that have been in your family and to see it just disappear in one second, how do you feel? What can you do?”
As recovery efforts continue, support is already underway.
A disaster relief volunteer from the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada recently deployed to Honolulu, joining more than 100 workers providing shelter, meals and assistance to those displaced by the flooding.
