Oprah Winfrey refuted widespread online claims Wednesday (Jul 30) that she blocked off a private road on Hawaii property she owns, preventing tsunami evacuees from quickly reaching higher ground.

Winfrey has a residence on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where tsunami warnings were issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia.

Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for the billionaire talk show host, told AFP Winfrey's team contacted local law enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the road was opened "as soon as we heard the tsunami warnings".

"Any reports otherwise are false," Nichols said in a statement.

Across social media, angry users accused Winfrey of refusing to make her road available at any point to evacuees, despite heavy traffic on the island. Some

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