- Devastating Wildfires: Maui’s Island Records 99 Deaths as Blaze Continues
- Grim Outlook: Hawaii’s Governor Warns of Possible Increase in Casualties
- Recovery and Assistance: FEMA Provides Aid as Recovery Efforts and Assistance Continue
Officials have verified the deaths of 99 people as a result of the island of Maui’s devastating wildfires.
The governor of Hawaii has warned that scores more lives could be lost on the island of Maui due to devastating wildfires, which have already claimed 99 lives.
We are prepared for many tragic stories,” Governor Josh Green told US media on Monday.
“They will likely discover 10 to 20 people per day until they are done. And it will probably take ten days. It is essentially impossible to predict.”
Dozens of searchers and cadaver dogs have been combing through homes and structures reduced to ash by the wildfires.
Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for the Hawaii Department of Defence, told NBC’s Today, “Right now, they’re going street by street, block by block between cars, and soon they’ll start entering buildings.”
On the island, fires continue to blaze, including one in the central Upcountry region that is still only 60% contained.
The latest update from officials says hot spots in ditches and other inaccessible areas make fire management difficult.
Firefighters say that the Pulehu and Kaanapali fires are 100% suppressed while the Lahaina fire is 85% contained.
Nearly every structure in the 13,000-person town of Lahaina was obliterated, making it the hardest-hit area.
Local fire victims and humanitarian workers are staying in motels during rehabilitation.
Monday, agency administrator Deanne Criswell announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun providing $700 (£550) to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid, and medical supplies.
Criswell stated, “Nothing is off the table, and we’ll be very inventive in how we use our authorities to help build communities and help people find a place to stay for the long term.”
Decades-long Hawaii resident and British rock star Mick Fleetwood characterized the situation in Lahaina as “catastrophic.”
The Fleetwood Mac drummer called the accident “an unbelievable shock to everyone” and “complete devastation.”
Fleetwood revealed he was visiting family in Los Angeles when the fires broke out, but he returned promptly with supplies.
However, the town of Lahaina, where he owns a renowned restaurant, was destroyed.
His restaurant, Fleetwood’s on Front St, was about to celebrate its eleventh anniversary this week, but it was devastated by a fire, and many of his employees lost everything.
Officials say winds up to 85 mph and dry weather fueled the fire and prohibited helicopters from helping firefighters.
As people have moved away from cultivation on Maui, “highly flammable grass species” have taken over much of the island’s landscape, according to experts, while climate change increases the likelihood of more extreme weather.
The fire is the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century, surpassing the 85 people killed in California’s Camp Fire in 2018, and Governor Green described it as the worst natural calamity the state has ever experienced.
The deadliest fire in United States history occurred in 1871 in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing more than 1,150 persons.
