Hawaii Wildfire Death Toll Touches 89, Making It The Deadliest In The US In Over 100 Years
A raging wildfire that swept through a picturesque town on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week has killed at least 89 people, authorities said Saturday, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century.
The new death toll on Saturday came as emergency workers picked through the aftermath of the blaze, marking the ruins of homes with a bright orange X for an initial search when they found human remains.
Anger grows; authorities respond
Anger has been brewing among residents over official response to the horrific wildfire. The inferno that swept through the centuries-old town of Lahaina on Maui¡¯s west coast four days earlier torched hundreds of homes and turned a lush, tropical area into a moonscape of ash. The state¡¯s governor predicted more bodies will be found.
¡°It¡¯s going to rise,¡± Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. ¡°It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced. ... 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 health care, and then turn to rebuilding.¡±
Maui police chief John Pelletier told reporters that the fire had melted metal, making remains extremely hard to identify.?
"We know we've got to go quick [to identify victims] but we've got to do it right," he said."When you have 200 people running through the scene yesterday - and some of you - that's what you're stepping on."I don't know how much more you want me to describe it."He also conceded the number of victims would inevitably rise again as "none of us really know the size of it yet".
The extent of the damage
Lahaina was worst hit by Tuesday's fires and now resembles a war zone with over 2,200 structures damaged or destroyed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless.
Survivors have spoken about how quick the blaze spread - the situation made worse by high winds and parched ground - and say emergency sirens failed to give any warning.Mobile phone alerts were also hampered by power and signal outages.
Some people were forced to jump in the sea and wait for rescue as cars exploded around them and escape routes were blocked.
The town is a no-go zone for the time being, with many people whose properties have been destroyed taking refuge in shelters.
At least two other fires are still burning on Maui but no fatalities have been reported so far.More than 150 died in a tsunami in Hawaii in 1946, but this week's disaster could surpass that given authorities' grim prediction of more bodies.
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