Wildfire roars through Hawaii’s historic Lahaina
The death toll in Maui, Hawaii has reached 93 as the devastating wildfires become the deadliest in US modern history.
The blazes on the island are now the country’s worst in terms of casualties for over a century, while authorities have warned that the effort to find and identify the dead is still in its early stages, as crews with cadaver dogs have covered just three per cent of the search area.
“It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced,” Governor Josh Green said on Saturday as he toured the devastation in Lahaina.
The newly released death toll passed that of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise.
At least two other fires — in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry — have been burning on the island, with no fatalities reported so far.
Many fire survivors said they did not hear any sirens or receive a warning, only realising they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions. Officials sent alerts but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.
Maui wildfires ‘the worst natural disaster Hawaii ever faced’
With the death toll from the Maui wildfires reaching 93 early on Sunday, governor Josh Green has labeled it the “worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced”.
The scale of the damage came into sharper focus on Saturday, four days after a fast-moving blaze leveled the historic resort town of Lahaina, obliterating buildings and melting cars.
Expressing shock over the scale of devastation, Mr Green said: “We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them healthcare, and then turn to rebuilding.”
Tara Cobham13 August 2023 10:47
Death toll from Hawaii wildfires reaches 93
The death toll from the devastating wildfires in Hawaii has reached 93.
Maui County announced the updated fatality figures for its island on Sunday morning.
Tara Cobham13 August 2023 09:45
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez donate $100m to relief fund
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 14:45
Hawaii fires: Terrified residents make desperate escape in apocalyptic scenes
These shocking scenes show terrified residents attempting to make their desperate escape from the wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. The footage captured by Bosco Bae Jr resembles scenes from Hollywood movies as people try to escape falling trees, burning buildings, and flying ash all around. The footage comes as the Mayor of Maui, Richard Bissen revealed the historic town has been totally wiped out by wildfires, stating: “It’s all gone.” The death toll from the devastating wildfires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, has now climbed to 67 – as officials warned that the loss of life is expected to rise further.
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 14:15
How did the Hawaii wildfires start?
Ariana Baio compiled everything we know about how the Hawaii wildfires started.
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 13:45
With phones cut ‘coconut wireless’ neighbour network couldn’t warn of dangers
Earlier this week, rapidly moving wildfires knocked out phone service on Maui, preventing the usual local “coconut wireless” network of neighbours from informing each other of the latest news from warning residents on the island they were in danger, according to Hawai’i Governor Josh Green.
“Normally, we would phone call one another, and through what’s often called the ‘coconut wireless,’ where everyone speaks to everyone else in their community, we would know right away that there was danger,” he told CNN on Friday. “That communication was cut off by the destruction of essentially 1000-degree heat that was coming down the mountain.”
Josh Marcus reports from San Francisco.
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 13:00
Voices: Maui is my home – after the wildfires, I no longer recognise the place I love
I’m an English expat, naturalised both to the US and to the islands of Hawaii after 17 years. Maui is my home. As a resident of Maui, married into a family born and raised on the island, the loss of Lahaina’s Old Town is devastating.
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 12:15
Some wait in agony to make contact while searching for the missing. And then the phone rings.
Leshia Wright heard the crackle of the fast-moving inferno closing in on her home in Lahaina and decided it was time to evacuate.
The 66-year-old grabbed her medication for a pulmonary disease and her passport and fled the subdivision in the historic Hawaii oceanside community just minutes before flames engulfed the neighborhood. Hours later, she called family members and told them she slept in her car.
Then her phone went dead…
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 11:30
As communication failed, chaos overtook Lahaina along with the flames
In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media posts that reached a much smaller audience.
Power and cellular outages for residents further stymied communication efforts. Radio reports were scarce, some survivors reported, even as the blaze began to consume the town. Road blocks then forced fleeing drivers onto one narrow downtown street, creating a bottleneck that was quickly surrounded by flames on all sides.
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 10:45
Where in Maui are the wildfires?
Oliver O’Connell13 August 2023 10:00