Photo:Stephen Lam / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris
Stephen Lam / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris
The death toll on Maui, Hawaii, continues to rise with preliminary estimates of damages of the fire set at over $1 billion, as firefighters in the state continue to battle wildfires.
Maui County reported that the number offatalities in Lahaina rose to 80as of 9 p.m. local time on Friday, up from67 deaths reported earlier that day. Firefighters are continuing to fight blazes and extinguish flare-ups in Lahaina, upcountry Maui and near Pulehu and Kihei, the county said in its latest press release.
Over 1,400 people have evacuated Lahaina and taken up residence at emergency evacuation shelters at War Memorial Gymnasium and other shelters across the island. PresidentJoe Bidenapproved the state of Hawaii’sdisaster declaration, allowing additional federal funding to become available for people affected throughout the area on Thursday.
Hawaii Army National Guard Search and Rescue soldiers patrol neighborhoods of burnt out homes in the aftermath of wildfires that destroyed most of Lahaina town,.Andrew Jackson/Us Air/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire
Andrew Jackson/Us Air/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire
The bulk of reconstruction costs would be in Lahaina, where an estimated 2,808 residential properties would cost over $1.2 billion to reconstruct.
An aerial view shows destroyed homes and buildings that burned to the ground around the harbor and Front Street in the historic Lahaina town in the aftermath of wildfires.PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
“We are seeing loss of life,” Gov. Green said at a Thursday news conference, also noting that the fires were the “greatest emergency we’ve seen in decades.”
Gov. Green also noted that the tragedy was especially difficult to anticipate because it “came in the night with high winds,” adding that the state is short on firefighting resources and personnel.
An aerial image taken on August 10, 2023 shows destroyed homes and buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina.PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
Hawaii general attorney Anne Lopez announced on Friday that her office will beconducting a reviewof “critical decision-making and standing policies” leading up to, during and after the wildfires.
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“The whole town was on fire,” one Maui resident, Keao Shaw, 39, recalled of the tragedy to PEOPLE. “It was just an inferno, black smoke everywhere.”
“The fire was everywhere. It was up in the hills, it was down in the buildings, and [it was in] all the houses. It’s all the way down to the beach,” he said. “People were running for their lives.”
“Our whole town is gone.Our jobs are gone. Our house is gone,” another Maui resident, Amanda Bratton, told PEOPLE of the destruction. “Our cars are gone and our whole community is just, I mean, it’s the entire town. So it’s like I’ve never seen anything this tragic since 9-11. It’s like, what do you do when you weren’t expecting your entire town, all the buildings and businesses and houses, to just be wiped out?”
Maui isn’t the only island in Hawaii dealing with brush fires. County officials on Hawaii’s Big Island also announced on Tuesday that they were monitoring activebrush fires in the Kohala area, located on the north side of the island, and announced a mandatory evacuation for the area. However, as of late Wednesday, the fire was controlled and residents were allowed to return, per local newsBig Island Now.
source: people.com
