MAUI, HAWAII: The Honolulu-born actress Nicole Kidman, who was raised in Australia, shared her heartbreaking emotions over the Maui wildfires in an Instagram Story on Sunday, August 13.
Nicole urged her followers to follow suit after announcing that she and her family had contributed to organizations helping with the recovery work.
Where was Nicole Kidman born?
According to Britannica, Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, US to Australian parents. Her family emigrated to Australia and settled in Sydney when Kidman was four years old.
As per Daily Mail, Kidman was given the Hawaiian name "Hokulani," which means "heavenly star" and was inspired by the name of a newborn elephant born about the same period at the Honolulu Zoo.
It happened after the catastrophic blaze tore through the Maui County town of Lahaina and the death toll from the Hawaiian wildfires reached 80.
'Shaken by the devastation in Hawaii'
Taking to her Instagram story, Kidman shared her heartbreaking emotions over the Hawaii wildfires, killing over 80 people and burning most of the historic town of Lahaina.
Addressing her followers, the 56-year-old wrote in a text, "I am shaken by the devastation in Hawai'i and feel so deeply for the loss that people are experiencing."
Kidman continued: "I was born in Hawai'i and i have such love and connection to the island. My family and my mother share the concern for everyone whose lives have been hurt and destroyed."
She urged her fans and followers to come forward for any help and provided a link at the end of the post for making donations.
Maui wildfire death toll increases to 93
Hawaii Governor Josh Green warned on August 12 that as forensic work continues to identify the victims, the number of victims could increase "significantly".
The Maui fire, which destroyed the ancient town of Lahaina, is now known to have killed 93 people, making it the worst US fire in a century, as reported by BBC.
While hundreds of people who escaped the flames pack shelters all throughout Maui, a hundred more are still missing. Green exclaimed, "It's an impossible day."
Though the wildfires are now substantially under control, attempts to completely put them out are still being made in several areas of the island, particularly the area surrounding Lahaina, which has been severely damaged.
The remaining coastal part of the island is where authorities have concentrated their efforts, deploying sniffer dogs trained to find remains to search for traces of bodies buried beneath the debris.
Chief John Pelletier of the Maui Police Department expressed his disappointment that they had only covered 3% of the search area thus far.
Senior FEMA official Jeremy Greenberg told the BBC that further assistance was being sent, including teams for fire control and urban search and rescue.
