Wildfire roars through Hawaii’s historic Lahaina
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Hawaiian locals have claimed that looters are now targeting Lahaina at night, robbing residents and stealing their last worldly possessions after the historic town was burned to the ground by devastating wildfires.
Matt Robb, co-owner of a Lāhainā bar called The Dirty Monkey, told Business Insider that residents are desperate for local leaders to take control of the emergency response amid a spate of people being robbed at gunpoint.
“There’s some police presence. There’s some small military presence, but at night people are being robbed at gunpoint,” Matt Robb, co-owner of local bar The Dirty Monkey, told Business Insider.
At least 93 people have been killed, making the wildfires the deadliest in US modern history.
Authorities have warned that the effort to find and identify victims is still in its early stages, with crews with cadaver dogs having covered just three per cent of the search area as of Saturday.
Meanwhile, celebrities and tourists are coming under fire as some are still flocking to the island. Paris Hilton has been slammed for holidaying in Maui over the weekend while Oprah Winfrey’s camera crew was refused entry at an emergency shelter as she came to hand out supplies.
Residents claim people being ‘robbed at gunpoint’ in Maui amid ‘lack of leadership’
Local residents in Hawaii’s Maui are claiming they are being looted and robbed at gunpoint after catastrophic fires ravaged parts of the island.
The wildfires in Maui have become the deadliest in modern US history and have so far led to the deaths of 93 people, apart from widespread devastation of property.
And now locals have said they are growing increasingly desperate for effective local leadership to step up and take control of the emergency response amid accusations of an increase in crime.
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Survivor recalls unprecedented blaze consuming ‘every house, every tree, every single thing’
A survivor recounted to the Red Cross that initially, they believed that only a small number of buildings were engulfed in flames when the fire initially broke out.
However, as time passed and they observed the situation more closely, they realised the true magnitude of the blaze, and it became apparent that a much larger area was affected by the fire.
“Every single piece of lawn, every house, every tree, every single thing, all the way to the ocean and all the way down was on fire,” he said, according to the Red Cross.
Lahaina residents inspect remains of homes after devastating Maui wildfire
Survivors witnessed a surreal landscape of flattened homes, blackened hulks of burned-out cars and ashy lots where buildings once stood as they took stock of their shattered lives in the aftermath of a fast-paced wildfire on the Hawaii island of Maui that authorities say killed at least 80 people. Residents were faced with catastrophic destruction resulting from the wildfires that tore through parts of Maui and the town of Lahaina this week. “We lost everything, thank god we still have each other. We were all alive and safe and counted for. It’s like we are the only things we have now because everything we had in the past is gone,” one resident, Christie Gagala, said.
Power restored to 60 per cent of customers, utility says
The Hawaiian Electric utility company announced on Sunday afternoon local time that over 60 per cent of its customers who experienced a power outage since Tuesday on Maui Island have now had their electricity restored.
Hawaiian Electric’s restoration teams are actively engaged in efforts to reinstate power for the remaining 5,000 customers who are currently experiencing an electricity outage in the Upcountry and West Maui regions of the island, the statement said.
However, the company said that the figure had not been adjusted to account for structures that were damaged or destroyed in the wildfires.
The utility warned that there could still be some outages now and then and asked customers to “be mindful of their use of electricity and conserve by limiting non-essential uses”.
The Hawaii utility is being criticised for not implementing power cuts as a measure to minimize fire risks despite having received warnings.
Lahaina residents inspect remains of homes after devastating Maui wildfire
Survivors witnessed a surreal landscape of flattened homes, blackened hulks of burned-out cars and ashy lots where buildings once stood as they took stock of their shattered lives in the aftermath of a fast-paced wildfire on the Hawaii island of Maui that authorities say killed at least 80 people.
Residents were faced with catastrophic destruction resulting from the wildfires that tore through parts of Maui and the town of Lahaina this week.
“We lost everything, thank god we still have each other. We were all alive and safe and counted for. It’s like we are the only things we have now because everything we had in the past is gone,” one resident, Christie Gagala, said.
Lahaina residents inspect remains of homes after devastating Maui wildfire
Survivors witnessed a surreal landscape of flattened homes, blackened hulks of burned-out cars and ashy lots where buildings once stood as they took stock of their shattered lives in the aftermath of a fast-paced wildfire on the Hawaii island of Maui that authorities say killed at least 80 people. Residents were faced with catastrophic destruction resulting from the wildfires that tore through parts of Maui and the town of Lahaina this week. “We lost everything, thank god we still have each other. We were all alive and safe and counted for. It’s like we are the only things we have now because everything we had in the past is gone,” one resident, Christie Gagala, said.
How the ‘coconut wireless’ failed in the midst of disaster
Rapidly moving wildfires knocked out phone service on Maui, preventing the usual local “coconut wireless” network of neighbours 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 cal 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.
Map of Maui wildfires: Where are the Hawaii fires?
Thousands of residents in Hawaii have been racing to escape their homes as deadly wildfires swept across the island of Maui, killing at least 93 people in what is now the deadliest US wildfire incident for more than 100 years.
US senator Brian Schatz said the historic town of Lahaina, which dates back to the 1700s, is almost totally burnt to the ground, with the blaze leaving behind smoking piles of rubble where historic buildings stood.
Maui County officials said that tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the island by air, with dozens of injured in addition to those killed.
Jason Momoa issues stern warning to holidaymakers travelling to Maui amid deadly wildfires
Jason Momoa has issued a stern message to holidaymakers hoping to still travel to Maui amid the fatal wildfires.
Two days after sharing his “heartbreak” about the wildfires that have devastated the Hawaiian island, Momoa shared a post stating: “Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now. DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI.”
He continued: “Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply.
“Mahalo to everyone who has donated and shown aloha to the community in this time of need.”
Conspiracy theorists are claiming a 'space laser beam' started the Hawaii wildfires
Conspiracy theorists have managed to go viral after spreading false claims that the devastating wildfires that have torn through the island of Maui in Hawaii were started by a ‘space laser.’
Yet, whenever the climate is related to a tragic story it doesn’t take long for conspiracy theorists to try and spin the narrative to make others think what they are seeing isn’t really about the state of the planet.
Maui fires become deadliest in modern US history as ‘grim’ search for victims continues
Hawaii Governor Josh Green gave a stark warning to the world in the aftermath of the “fire hurricane” that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.
The state’s drought conditions from climate change and difficulties with water management had combined with 60mph winds from Hurricane Dora which had just passed the island, Mr Green explained in an interview on MSNBC on Sunday.
This allowed three of four fires to seed quickly in the wind and then move at a mile-per-minute through the community obliterating everything in its path.
“That’s what a fire hurricane is going to look [like] in the era of global warming,” he warned, emphasising the need for action on climate change.
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https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL2NsaW1hdGUtY2hhbmdlL25ld3MvbWF1aS1maXJlcy12aWN0aW1zLXdpbGRmaXJlcy1oYXdhaWktZWFydGhxdWFrZS10b2RheS1iMjM5MjUwNC5odG1s0gEA?oc=5
2023-08-14 08:12:44Z
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