Maui's Sacred Hearts Catholic school principal reports ALL students safe after wildfires, says it's 'an answered prayer'

On Tuesday, administrators of a Catholic school that burned to the ground during the Maui wildfires confirmed that all 220 of its students had been reported alive. 

Sacred Hearts School Principal Tonata Lolesio said the news was "an answered prayer" as many in the small community on the west coast of the Hawaiian island continue to deal with the aftermath of the devastating blaze.

"Out here we're living with uncertainty," Lolesio told Hawaii News Now, explaining that following the August 8 fire, residents were prevented from properly communicating due to lack of reception.

"We were just waiting to hear from them to see if they were ok," she said. "We had no way to communicate with anybody."

Three weeks later, however, every last student and their families had been contacted, and were confirmed to have escaped the disaster.

Lolesio explained that a neighborhood where some of her students lived had been destroyed, leading her to question whether they were still alive. After a week of not being able to reach them, she saw one of the families at church, and her fear dissipated.

"To see them at mass," she said. "They see you and they come over, and the tears just start flowing."

As Hawaii News Now reports, while the school is no more, classes resumed Monday at Sacred Hearts Mission Church up the road in Kapalua. Nearly half the students returned, while the other half were displaced by the fires and moved to other schools. Around 120 students who were attending public schools prior to the fires have taken their place.

Lolesio celebrated the fact that schools were back in session, saying children "need to be in a place where they can have some stability and where their spiritual, social, emotional, developmental needs are being met," calling them "the hope for the future of Lahaina."

Hundreds of residents, including many students, are still missing.