"It was a very surreal experience."
The words of St. Paul's Kathryn Alexander, who's now a college student in at San Diego State, and back home safe after leaving the island of Maui and the deadly fire that killed dozens and leveled the town of Lahaina.
She had been staying in Lahaina when they evacuated before the fires engulfed the neighborhood where she was staying.
Kathryn told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that they really were in the dark about what was happening.
"We didn't get any notifications on our cellphones, the tsumani alarms didn't go off, the radio wasn't giving timely updates," she said, noting that she's kind of thankful for not getting updated information.
"I think we would have been in a lot bigger panic if we had known the destruction going on."
She saw a lot.
Evacuating Tuesday, she and others twice tried to get back into Lahaina.
The second attempt was eye-opening.
"We parked on the side of the highway throughout the night," said Kathryn, who attended high school at the Academy of Holy Angels. "We saw the whole right side of the highway on the other side of Lahaina engulfed in flames."
They stayed put until Wednesday morning, when they made it to the airport.
"Truthfully, we didn't know what was happening to my boyfriend's neighborhood until the morning when were all able to get cell service and power again at the airport," Kathryn said.
"It was just mass destruction to the whole town, my heart really goes out to the people because it's such a great community."
She knows recovery from the fire is going to take time.
"There are lots of resources if people are willing and able to donate," Kathryn said.
In addition to food banks and the American Red Cross, donations can be made at Give The Dream Foundation and the Hawaii Community Foundation.
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