2023-08-11 10:56:00
Maui is reeling from deadly and catastrophic wildfires. This is what you need to know
The wildfires raging in Maui will likely be the largest natural disaster ever seen in the state of Hawaii, Gov. Josh Green said Thursday, as the flames have killed dozens of people, displaced thousands and ripped through communities.
At least 55 people have died in the fires, though that number is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue across the island, according to authorities.
None of the fires burning on Maui have been fully contained, authorities said Thursday.
These are the latest news:
Thousands of people are still without electricity or means of communication: About 11,000 people across Maui were without power as of late Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. Outages to vital mobile phone, internet and radio networks are also preventing emergency teams from contacting those who may need help, authorities said. The outages are also preventing some from contacting missing family members or providing loved ones with status updates. Repairing the networks could take days or even weeksand authorities rely on satellite phones to communicate emergency information.
It is not clear the number of missing people: The authorities are still working to determine how many people are still missing. a stranger in Maui, the island’s police chief, John Pelletier, said Thursday, citing difficulties communicating without cell phone or radio signals. A search and rescue team California is headed to join crews from the US Coast Guard, Navy and other agencies already searching on land, by sea and by helicopter.
Firefighters continue to work to bring hell under control: the wildfire that swept through Lahaina was under control in 80% late on Thursday (local time), Maui County authorities reported. Firefighters have also made progress in fighting two other large fires on the island. The Pulehu Fire, located further east in Kihei, was 70% controlled as of Thursday, with another fire still being assessed in the foothills of Maui’s central Upcountry.
Historic Lahaina is “burned to the ground”: The town of Lahaina, Maui, a tourist hub and historic whaling town, has been decimated. “There’s nothing left. It’s all burned to the ground,” Mayor Richard Bissen said Thursday. Governor Green estimated that about 80% of the community is destroyed. CNN’s chief weather correspondent Bill Weir described the scene: “All the iconic buildings are either flattened or charred skeletons of their former selves.”
The state rushes to house thousands of people: “Many hundreds of homes” have been destroyed by the fires, Green said, leaving Hawaiian authorities to search for long-term housing for thousands of displaced residents. The state will start by finding 2,000 rooms for the evacuees, she said. Residents with vacant rooms or rental properties have also been urged to volunteer to house those in need.
Approximately 30,000 people have left Maui by plane: While authorities have urged travelers to leave the island, more than 14,000 people were removed from the island on Wednesday and another 14,500 were expected to be moved by the end of the day Thursday, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. These people were shipped to other Hawaiian islands or returned to their homes.
The road to recovery will be long and expensive: It will be several years before Maui can recover and rebuild after this week’s devastation, and it will come at a high cost, Green said Thursday. “It will be billions of dollars, no doubt,” she said. President Joe Biden signed a disaster declaration Thursday that will direct significant federal resources toward the recovery of Maui and the Big Island. Yet some of Maui’s burned-out historic sites may never be replaced.
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