Oprah Winfrey is pushing back against claims about her efforts to assist as tsunami waves reached Hawaiian shores following one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history.
Winfrey, who owns a home on the Hawaiian island of Maui and is a part-time resident, denied reported claims from locals that the media mogul failed to open her private road for evacuations after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck July 29 off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
“As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false,” a spokesperson for Winfrey told USA TODAY in a statement Wednesday, July 30.
Shortly after the initial tsunami warning sirens went off at around 3 p.m. local time in Hawaii, the streets of Honolulu, including the tourist hub Waikiki, were congested as people quickly tried to move to higher ground and away from coastal evacuation zones. Evacuations were ordered shortly after.
“Local law enforcement are currently on site helping residents through 50 cars at a time to ensure everyone’s safety. The road will remain open as long as necessary,” Winfrey’s rep continued in the statement.
A video posted by several users, including one reshared more than 1,000 times, on social media shows cars in line on a main road as an alarm blares. The X videos include the same caption: “Oprah won’t open her private road from Wailea to Kula, Hawaii, which would make it much easier for locals to get to higher ground.” Reader context provided to the videos assert the claim is false.
Tsunami waves began arriving in Hawaii after 7 p.m. local time July 29. In less than four hours, however, the risk to the state was downgraded from a tsunami warning to an advisory and an evacuation order was lifted for “coastal inundation zones.” There were no reports of severe damage.
Winfrey previously opened her private road for evacuations after a 2019 brush fire and provided assistance during the island’s 2023 wildfires.
Contributing: Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY staff
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oprah private road opened in Maui for tsunami evacuations, rep says
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