ABC News reporter, Bay Area resident Becky Worley details devastation on home island of Maui
MAUI, Hawaii (KGO) -- ABC News reporter Becky Worley lives in the Bay Area, but grew up in Maui and is hearing the heartbreaking stories from residents who survived the fires.
Worley still has family and friends in Maui, and says she didn't know what to expect when she got there.
Maui wildfire updates: Latest on devastating Hawaii fires that killed at least 55
"I just can't even wrap my head around what's happening on this island," she said.
Worley said she came to Maui to report on a separate fire about 35 miles north of Lahaina, where she found thousands of acres burned.
VIDEO: Maui resident jumped into ocean to escape flames that overtook his home
"Homes and pockets of neighborhoods, not everywhere, but some pockets that were completely burned out, and many evacuees from the Lahaina fires," Worley said.
Worley says the communication on the Lahaina side of the island is down and many people are worried as around 1,000 people remain missing.
She reminded that infrastructure is tough because it's an island, and that people can't drive in with resources.
"We are all just praying and hoping as the island starts to dig out from this unfathomable event that, as someone who grew up here, is hard for me to even contemplate the loss of life, the people who died," Worley said. "The historic Lahaina town gone, I feel like a piece of my childhood is really in ashes."
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