Latest On Hawaii Wildfires: Death Toll Jumps To 55 With 1,000 Still Missing

By Akeem Oduyoye with agency report

The death toll from the devastating wildfires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, has now jumped to 55 while 1,000 people are still missing, just as officials warned that the loss of life is expected to rise further.

Another 17 fatalities were confirmed on Thursday, taking the toll to 53 victims. By Thursday night, another two people had been found dead, Maui County confirmed.

Hawaii Governor ,Josh Green, said on evening of Thursday, 10 August, 2023 confirmed that  that around 1,000 people are still unaccounted for, as he said that the Aloha State is headed for its deadliest disaster in state history.

According to Green,t those unaccounted for are not presumed dead but that hundreds have been left without communications and so their safety is unclear.

“Here’s the challenge: there’s no power, no internet, no phone, no radio. You compound some of that. So when we’re speaking to our officers, we need them to get a sat phone,” he said.

The wildfires continue to devastate Lahaina, with more than 1,700 buildings and billions of dollars in property destroyed.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said that the historic town has been totally wiped out.

“It’s all gone. None of it’s there. It’s all burnt to the ground,” he said.

The fires, which are believed to be some of the deadliest in the state’s history, erupted this past week on three of Hawaii’s islands forcing visitors to flee and residents to seek emergency shelter.

Photos and videos from Maui show the destruction the fires have caused, with some neighbourhoods including the historic town of Lahaina, nearly burned to ash.

As of Thursday, search and recovery efforts have begun as firefighters work to contain and put out the fires.

But the wildfires have sparked a frenzy of questions about how disasters, like this, can be prevented in the future.

August is part of Hawaii’s typical dry season when parts of the island experience abnormal to severe droughts.

Since the beginning of August, most of Maui has been under an “abnormally dry” level of drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.

But beginning on Tuesday, 8 August, a portion of Maui escalated to a “severe drought” level making the area more susceptible to wildfires.

Though the islands are no stranger to some wildfires, the number of fires has increased exponentially over the past century due to human activity and an increase in invasive, flammable grasses, according to the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO).

“Nonnative grasslands and shrublands now cover nearly one quarter of Hawaii’s total land area and, together with a warming, drying climate and year round fire season, greatly increase the incidence of larger fires,” the HWMO wrote in a factsheet.

The dry vegetation combined with the drought conditions made for the perfect environment for wildfires.

But what may have caused the explosion in wildfire conditions is the strong winds brought on by Hurricane Dora, a Category 5 hurricane located several hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a red flag warning to the Hawaii National Guard due to the high winds, low humidity and drought, according to The Washington Post.

Experts are unsure what the exact cause of the wildfires at this time.

The fires broke out earlier this week on three islands: Hawaii, Maui and Oahu with the deadliest fires being on Maui.

It is unclear where the fires first began but from the time they started, they moved extremely quickly.

The town of Lahaina, located in western Maui, was seemingly hit the hardest with more than 270 structures burned.

Source: Daily Independent