Maui wildfires deadliest in a century after death toll hits 89
The death toll from the Maui wildfires is now at 89, officials said on Saturday, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
Governor Josh Green warned at a news conference on Saturday afternoon that the death toll would continue to rise as more bodies were discovered.
The scale of the damage came into sharper focus on Saturday, as search teams with cadaver dogs sifted through the ruins of Lahaina, four days after a fast-moving blaze levelled the historic resort town, obliterating buildings and melting cars.
The cost to rebuild Lahaina was estimated at $5.5 billion, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with more than 2,200 structures damaged or destroyed and more than 2,100 acres (850 hectares) burned.
'It's been so hard': Maui families search for missing loved ones
After three days of searching, June Lacuesta made his way into the Family Resource Center looking for his nine close relatives that disappeared following the Maui wildfires.
Lacuesta says these past few days have been some of the hardest for him and the pain has been indescribable.
“I would like to find the Quijano family, Coloma family and Villegas families, which is three days now that everybody's looking for them.”
Lacuesta has posted photos of the 9 missing relatives through social media and has gone to multiple shelters to try and locate his loved ones. The resource centre opened its doors on Saturday and will be a one-stop shop for relatives to get information across all shelters and customized counselling services.
“Hopefully I get all the resources that can help them right now. But I will continue until everything's sure. I will help [with] everything that the family needs,” he said.
As Lacuesta waits for news on his missing family members, others like Ed Gazmen received good news after leaving the resource center about his brother and sister in law.
“Thank God through this family assistance, we are able to get the word that they are safe. But with the lack of communication and everything is so hard, so hard for a lot of families,” he told Reuters.
As a longtime Lahaina resident, an emotional Gazmen is still in shock at the devastation, as his beloved town was set ablaze by the wildfires.
"It's been so hard, very hard. Never, I think in my life, would I have imagined that we would have something like this. A catastrophe,” he said.
The Family Resource Center is located at the Kahului Community Center and will be open to the public indefinitely, says Andrew Martin, Prosecuting Attorney for Maui County.
The scale of the Maui wildfires' destruction came into sharper focus on Saturday, as officials warned the death toll of 80 would likely rise and search teams with cadaver dogs sifted through the charred ruins of Lahaina looking for more victims. According to Martin, the number of missing residents is still unknown.
Reuters
