Hawaii Fires: Death toll rises to 80 and continues to grow
Governor Josh Green said it was “probably the largest natural disaster in the history of the state of Hawaii.” The attorney general will investigate the handling of the crisis
“The death toll stands at 80,” Maui County officials in the Hawaiian Islands reported Friday night in a regular update on the situation following this week’s fires, adding that 1,418 people were evacuated and taken to emergency shelters as residents begin to return to their homes. The official death toll, which stood at 55 yesterday, has continued to rise.
Criticism of the official response to the disaster is mounting, prompting Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez to announce an investigation into how the crisis was handled. Residents have complained that there were no warnings about the fire, which trapped people in the town.
Lopez said he will undertake “a comprehensive review of the critical decision-making and policies in place that led, during and after, the wildfires on the islands of Maui and Hawaii this week.”
Search teams are using dogs to track victims of what Gov. Josh Green said was “probably the largest natural disaster in the history of the state of Hawaii.”
“What we’ve seen today has been catastrophic,” Green said after touring the historic area of Lahaina. The fires have devastated more than 800 hectares on two islands of the archipelago and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, some of whom even jumped into the water to protect themselves from the flames.
On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden declared a disaster situation in Hawaii and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires, which began on Tuesday, August 8.
This is the largest natural disaster in the area since the 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people in the town of Hilo, although it is still a far cry from the 1946 tsunami that killed 158 people before the territory became a U.S. state.
The severe drought that has affected the islands in recent months, as well as strong winds from Hurricane Dora, have allowed the flames to spread.