2023-08-11 21:15:30
The human toll continues to grow: 55 dead on August 11 for what is already the deadliest disaster in the Hawaiian archipelago. And this toll will probably get even worse. The town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, was 80% destroyed.
A major natural disaster for the US state of Hawaii, and “a deeply dark day” for one of the islands of the archipelago, Maui, according to its mayor Richard Bissen. Serious fires have killed at least 55 people there, according to a new report from the county of Maui relayed by Hawaï News Now, Thursday 10 August in the evening. This balance sheet will probably increase further, fears the governor of the archipelago, Josh Green. It is one of the deadliest disasters in the history of the Hawaiian archipelago.
All of the victims found so far perished in a fire that nearly burned down Lahaina, Maui’s tourist hotspot, authorities have confirmed. This historic city, former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the 19th century, is “80% destroyed”, detailed the governor. In addition, about 11,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity Thursday afternoon in the archipelago, according to the PowerOutage site.
Fueled by strong winds, fed by the force of Hurricane Dora which is currently passing through the Pacific Ocean, the fires have spread so quickly that the population has been taken aback. A hundred residents threw themselves into the sea to escape the flames, according to the coast guard. “We still see corpses floating in the water and on the dikes”, Kekoa Lansford, a resident of Lahaina, Maui, testified to AFP on Thursday.
According to the authorities, quoted by Hawaii News Now, at least 20 other people suffer from severe burns related to these fires. On Wednesday, three injured people were in critical condition and were being treated in Honolulu, on the island of O’ahu. Maui’s hospital network is “exceeds” by the number of patients injured or having inhaled smoke, underlined the vice-governor of Hawaii, Sylvia Luke.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, quoted by CNN, admitted Thursday that the number of missing remains to be determined. “Honestly, we don’t know”, did he declare. “There is no electricity, no internet access, no radio coverage.”
In addition, the island of Hawaii was also affected by smaller fires. They are now under control.
“We have never experienced a fire affecting a city in this way”, lamented Thursday night Hawaii Governor Josh Green, reports CNN.“Climate change is here and it’s affecting the islands, I believe that’s what we’re seeing with these fires.”
The fire that surprised the town of Lahaina is 80% under control, but two other fires remain in progress on the island of Maui, according to local authorities quoted this Friday by AFP. To a lesser extent, the island of Hawaii, in the south of the archipelago, is also affected.
“We don’t know what started the fires, but we were notified in advance by the National Weather Service that we were on a red alert situation, [en raison] drought conditions”said at a point on Wednesday Kenneth Hara, commanding general of the Hawaii National Guard, quoted by CBS News. This context, along with low humidity and strong winds, “created the conditions for the fires”.
As explained the US National Weather Service“a strong high pressure system north of the state [d’Hawaii] continues to produce a very dry and stable climate on the islands”. “The combination of the strong high pressure, to the North, and Hurricane Dora, passing well to the South, continues to produce strong and gusty winds on the region”, he adds. Which, as a result, caused “critical fire weather conditions” juntil late Wednesday evening. The winds sometimes reached 100 km / h on the archipelago.
On the west coast of Maui, the town of Lahaina, populated by just over 12,000 inhabitants, was very badly affected by the fires.
According to State Senator Brian Schatz, the municipality of Lahaina is “almost completely burnt down”. “Much of Lahaina…has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced”Hawaii Governor Josh Green confirmed in a statement.
According to the county of Maui, no less than 271 structures damaged or ravaged by flames were recorded during overflights of the city.
The town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, in the Hawaiian archipelago, destroyed by fires that started on August 8, 2023. • ©MAXAR
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