Wind-fueled flames killed at least 6 people on the Hawaiian island of Maui, according to Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. Hundreds of structures have also been damaged or destroyed.
"We are still in search and rescue mode, so I don't know what will happen to that number," Bissen added.
The mayor did not elaborate on the circumstances behind the fatalities, stating that the death toll was verified moments before a news conference with officials. He claimed numerous additional individuals were missing, but they might be people in automobiles who haven't gone inside a shelter.
The five shelters that have been set up on the island are being used by more than 2,100 people, and some of them, as well as a few hotels, lost electricity, according to Bissen.
Acting Governor Sylvia Luke told reporters that some shelters were "overrun" and that travellers were being discouraged from visiting the island since they were still arriving on Maui on Wednesday morning.
Luke declared, "This is not a place to be." We have resources that are subject to taxation.
One piece of good news was that on Wednesday night, the National Weather Service canceled its Red Flag wildfire warning and high wind advisory for the whole state of Hawaii.
Authorities reported that earlier on Wednesday, the fires prompted residents to evacuate and pushed some to leap into a harbour to escape the flames and smoke. The Coast Guard said that it saved 14 persons in the town of Lahaina who sought safety in its harbour, adding that all of them were in stable condition. According to officials, hospitals on the island are caring for patients with burns and smoke inhalation.
Lahaina, a vacation destination with 12,000 residents on the northwest coast of Maui, experienced widespread fire.
At least 271 structures have been damaged or burned in the Lahaina wildfires, Maui county officials stated Wednesday afternoon.
The harbour, the town of West Maui, and the surrounding surroundings have all sustained extensive damage, the county stated in a statement.
In a statement, Governor Josh Green stated that a large portion of the town "has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced." Green was travelling but was anticipated to return to the state Wednesday night.
Multiple roads were stopped, and Maui County tweeted, "DO NOT go to Lahaina town." According to Mahina Martin, a spokeswoman for the County of Maui, transportation has been extremely congested as people attempt to flee, and officials advised those who weren't in an evacuation area to remain in place in order to reduce congestion.
As firefighters battled the fires, officials asked residents around the island to conserve water in order to lessen demand and increase available supply.
Photos that were provided by the county overnight showed a line of flames scorching across an intersection and jumping above buildings in the National Register of Historic Places listed town center that date to the 1700s.
Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air ambulance service, said that six patients were transported from the island of Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night. According to him, three of them were transferred to the burn unit at Straub Medical Centre because they suffered serious burns. The others were sent to various hospitals in Honolulu. According to him, at least 20 victims were transported to Maui Memorial Medical Centre. He was unaware of any fatalities.
A Maui fireman was hospitalised in stable condition after breathing smoke, according to early reports from the authorities on Wednesday.
According to Luke, who spoke to CNN, the island's healthcare system "was overburdened with burn patients, people suffering from inhalation."
The truth is that in order to provide them with burn assistance, we must fly them off of Maui, said Luke.
'911 is down. There is no cell service. There is no phone service. And it has contributed to the issue," she stated.
On Green's behalf, Luke, the state's lieutenant governor, declared an emergency and called in the Hawaii National Guard.
Wednesday afternoon, Luke issued a further proclamation strongly advising against any unnecessary trip to Maui. Additionally, the proclamation grants Hawaii's emergency management organisation the power to mandate the evacuation of civilian populations.
2,000 passengers were being accommodated at Maui's major airport, Kahului Airport, by the county because their flights had been canceled or because they had just landed on the island.
Flames severely damaged Lahaina's Front Street, a famous tourist destination for dining and shopping.
Alan Dickar, a Front Street shop owner, told CBS Honolulu station KGMB-TV that "buildings on both sides were engulfed." "At that point, there were no fire trucks; I believe the fire department was overburdened."
Maui can't take this, he told Patrick Trophy of CBS News. Many people just lost their employment as a result of numerous company fires. Many folks had their homes destroyed. For Maui, this will be terrible.
Strong winds in Hawaii ignited a number of wildfires, including the one in Lahaina. These fires destroyed several buildings, required evacuations, and resulted in power outages in a number of villages as firefighters battled to access some locations that were cut off by fallen trees and power lines. Some people claimed that traffic jams, smoke, and advancing flames made it difficult for them to flee.
According to the National Weather Service, winds exceeding 60 mph that knocked out electricity as night fell, shook homes, and grounded firefighting aircraft were partially caused by Hurricane Dora, which was moving to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles. According to the meteorological service, dangerous fire conditions brought on by high winds and low humidity were forecast to persist into Wednesday afternoon.
As of late Wednesday morning, the Central Pacific Storm Centre reported that Dora was a Category 4 storm.
President Biden issued a statement Wednesday night that said in part, "I have ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with the response." "The Hawaiian National Guard has dispatched Chinook Helicopters to the island of Maui to assist with search and rescue efforts and fire suppression. The Third Fleets of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard are assisting with response and rescue operations. Black Hawk Helicopters from the U.S. Marines are being used to put out fires on the Big Island. The United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior is prepared to assist with post-fire recovery activities. The Department of Transportation is coordinating with commercial flights to remove visitors from Maui.
Martin said that the situation was "so unprecedented," noting that several areas were impacted. She claimed that experiencing an emergency at night is scary since it is difficult to determine the depth of the harm.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez issued a warning against "bad actors who try to take advantage of people's goodwill" in light of the increase in contributions and fundraising efforts to aid wildfire victims. Lopez advised individuals to give to reputable, well-known organisations and double-check the legitimacy of the organisations receiving their money.
Hawaii's fire problems have "increased over the last couple of decades, and our policies, our infrastructure, and our preparedness, none of that has caught up with the level of threat that we face," said Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director of Hawaii Wildfire Management Organisation, to CBS News.
According to Pickett, this growing threat has been exacerbated by human behaviour as well as the increased frequency of storms, droughts, and invasive plant species.
She stated, "We have invasive species that have entered our island archipelago and now encompass 26% of our state. And as a result, our landscape has been overrun by exotic, fire-loving, highly ignitable grasses. Additionally, because of human actions that aren't quite as fire-aware as they are in other fire-prone areas, there will inevitably be an increase in wildfires.
There were flames burning around the world.
According to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a disaster designation to give aid with a fire that endangered roughly 200 houses in and near Kohala Ranch, a rural neighbourhood with more than 500 residents on the Big Island.
The fire was uncontained and had consumed more than 600 acres when the request was made. Officials said that there were two other unattended fires raging on the Big Island and Maui.
On Maui, firefighters were putting out many fires that were centered in two places: the well-known tourist resort of West Maui and an inland, mountainous location. Residents in West Maui were instructed to phone the police department because there was no 911 coverage accessible there.
The wind gusts prevented helicopters from dropping water on the fires from the air or measuring more exact fire sizes, and firefighters were working inland fires on roads that were obstructed by falling trees and power lines, according to Martin.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 12,500 consumers in Hawaii were without power as of Wednesday afternoon.
Given the several fires and multiple evacuations in the various district regions, Martin remarked, "It's definitely one of the more difficult days for our island."
Inland Maui had gusts of up to 80 mph, and one fire that had been thought to be out earlier in the day on Tuesday flared back several hours later as a result.
"The fire can be a mile or more away from your home, but in a minute or two, it could be at your house," said Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea.
Firefighters were having a difficult time because of Hurricane Dora during the dry season.
A low-pressure system connected to Hurricane Dora is trapped between high pressure to the north and Hawaii, according to Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu. According to him, the dryness and the winds "create a dangerous fire situation so that any existing fires can spread out of control very quickly."
"It's kind of because of Hurricane Dora, but it's not a direct result," he added, referring to the flames as a "peripheral result" of the hurricane's winds.
According to Bissen, a fire in the Kula neighbourhood of Maui that consumed around 1,100 acres damaged at least two residences. According to him, 40 residences held 80 individuals who had to be evacuated.
Caroline Lebrec, a resident of upcountry Maui, was among those compelled to flee and told KGMB-TV she could see flames spreading as she made her way to an emergency shelter. Small but sufficient branches were falling on us, she remarked, "so I sped up."
Except for one, all of Maui's public schools were closed on Wednesday, according to the state Department of Education.
On the Big Island and Maui, the Red Cross was starting to open shelters.
Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth explained why around 400 residences in four towns in the northern section of the island were evacuated: "We're trying to protect homes in the community." He said that as of Tuesday, one home's roof had caught fire.
Hawaii's fires differ significantly from many of those raging in the American West. They are often considerably smaller than flames on the American mainland and tend to start in expansive grasslands on the drier edges of the islands.
Before people came, fires were uncommon in Hawaii and on other tropical islands, and native ecosystems evolved without them. This implies that when flames start, significant environmental harm may result. For instance, flames destroy plant life. Heavy rains that come after a fire may wash loose soil into the water, smothering coral reefs there.
In 2021, a large fire on the Big Island destroyed homes and led to the evacuation of thousands of people.
Adam Weintraub, communication director for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, noted that Honolulu's home island of Oahu was also experiencing power outages, downed power lines, and traffic issues.
Source:
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-hurricane-dora-winds-wildfires-evacuations-power-outages/