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BU student helping as much as she can in Maui before returning to Boston: ‘It is grim'

Sophomore Noelle Lo has been in Maui since May after taking her last final at Boston University

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In Maui, the destruction and devastation isn't just hitting home, it is home for one Boston University sophomore.

"I am seeing my friends lose their homes, lose their livelihoods, lose their memories all in one," said Noelle Lo.

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Lo has been in Maui since May after taking her last finals at BU. She says since last Tuesday when the wildfires spread through the historic town of Lahaina, she has been trying to help the best she can.

"It is grim, I mean I still haven't fully processed what has been happening," she said Monday. "Every single time that death toll goes up the more my heart breaks because the more I am losing the community that has done so much for me."

One of the biggest concerns is how, why and what emergency alert system failed ahead of these fires sparking.

Lo says her high school has been turned into a shelter, the gym now full with those displaced.

"Some of them have lost identification, some of them have lost Green Cards, some have lost family members, these people have not just lost their homes, they have lost their lives," she said. "Instead of seeing high school kids running around playing dodgeball or something, you see hundreds of cots, of displaced families, confused of what is going to happen next."

Lo says she is trying to manage her pain by volunteering as much as she can before she returns to BU for the fall semester.

"I try not to cry because I am lucky enough to be alive, you feel guilty in a way," Lo said.

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