Vicente Ruboi receives a hug after performing a blessing to greet the day in Kihei, Hawaii, yesterday. Photo / AP
Vicente Ruboi receives a hug after performing a blessing to greet the day in Kihei, Hawaii, yesterday. Photo / AP
A mobile morgue has arrived to help Hawaii officials working painstakingly to identify the people confirmed killed in wildfires that ravaged Maui, and officials expect to release the first list of names even as the search for more dead intensifies.
The death toll in the Maui wildfires has risen to 101, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN.
The US Department of Health and Human Services deployed a team of coroners, pathologists and technicians, along with exam tables, X-ray units and other equipment, to identify victims and process remains, said Jonathan Greene, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for response.
“It’s going to be a very, very difficult mission. And patience will be incredibly important because of the number of victims.”
A week after a blaze tore through historic Lahaina, many survivors started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals, while donations of food, ice, water and other essentials poured in.
Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about a third of the devastated area. Green asked for patience as authorities became overwhelmed with requests to visit the burn area.
A tub rests in the middle of a wildfire-destroyed home. Photo / AP
Just three bodies have so far been identified and police have renewed pleas for families with missing relatives to provide DNA samples. So far 41 samples have been submitted and 13 DNA profiles have been obtained from remains.
Green warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires, some of which have not yet been fully contained, are already the deadliest in the US in more than a century. Their cause remains under investigation.
When asked by Hawaii News Now if children were among the missing, Green said: “Tragically, yes ... When the bodies are smaller, we know it’s a child.”
He described some of the sites being searched as “too much to share or see from just a human perspective”.
Another complicating factor, he said, was that storms with rain and high winds were forecast for the weekend. Officials were mulling whether to “pre-emptively power down or not for a short period of time, because right now all of the infrastructure is weaker”.
A week after the fires started, some residents remained with intermittent power, unreliable cellphone service and uncertainty over where to get assistance. Some people walked periodically to a seawall, where phone connections were strongest, to make calls. Flying low off the coast, a single-prop plane used a loudspeaker to blare information about where to get water and supplies.
Victoria Martocci, who lost her scuba business and a boat, planned to travel to her storage unit in Kahalui from her Kahana home today to stash documents and keepsakes given to her by a friend whose house burned. “These are things she grabbed, the only things she could grab, and I want to keep them safe for her.”
Destroyed property is seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, following the deadly wildfire. Photo / AP
The local power utility company has already faced criticism for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire. It’s not clear whether the utility’s equipment played any role in igniting the flames.
Hawaiian Electric president and chief executive Shelee Kimura said many factors went into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who relied on specialised medical equipment, and concerns that a shutoff in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.
Green has said the flames raced as fast as 1.6 kilometres every minute in one area, fuelled by dry grass and propelled by strong winds from a passing hurricane.
The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85 per cent contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire was 60 per cent contained.
The Lahaina fire caused about US$3.2 billion (NZ$5.3b) in insured property losses, according to calculations by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modelling company. That doesn’t include damage to uninsured property. The firm said more than 2200 buildings were damaged or destroyed by flames, with about 3000 damaged by fire or smoke or both.
Abandoned cars, scorched by the wildfire. Photo / AP
Even where the flames have retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. That has left many unable to return home.
The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters as of Monday. Green said thousands of people would need housing for at least 36 weeks and some 450 hotel rooms and 1000 Airbnb rentals were being made available.
President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill would visit Hawaii “as soon as we can” but he did not want his presence to interrupt recovery and cleanup efforts. During a stop in Milwaukee to highlight his economic agenda, Biden pledged that “every asset they need will be there for them”.
More than 3000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number was expected to grow.
The agency was providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property.
The Biden administration was seeking US$12b more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.
Green said “leaders all across the board” had helped by donating more than 450,000 kilograms of food as well as ice, water, nappies and baby formula. US Marines, the Hawaii National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have all joined the aid and recovery efforts.
Lahaina resident Kekoa Lansford helped rescue people as the flames swept through town. Now he is collecting stories from survivors, hoping to create a timeline of what happened. He has 170 emails so far.
The scene was haunting. “Horrible, horrible,” he said. “You ever seen hell in the movies? That is what it looked like. Fire everywhere. Dead people.”
