Waking up on the other side of Maui from his home, Matt Kovach was alarmed by the deluge of text messages on his phone inquiring about his safety.
What he saw on a local news website only heightened his fears. Overnight, his neighborhood had burned to the ground. One thought ran through his head.
We’ve got to get home. I’ve got to go get my mom.
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Kovach didn’t even know there was a fire when he left his 74-year-old mother the previous afternoon. A self-described compulsive workaholic, he couldn’t stand being stranded without internet and cellphone access because of the power outage that hit his neighborhood that morning.