The death toll from devastating wildfires in Maui climbed to 55 Thursday, Hawaii Gov Josh Green said.
“We’re talking about the largest natural disaster of this generation in Hawaii,” Green told The Associated Press.. “We are heart-sick that there are more than the original 36 who have passed.” He expects the number to increase as crews continue to search for survivors. Green said it looks like there have been more than 1,000 structures destroyed.
“Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Green said after walking the town Thursday morning with Maui Mayor Richard Bissen. “Without a doubt, it feel like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina.”
Philanthropy experts recommend that people seeking to donate to Maui’s wildfire victims wait to do so. Regine Webster, vice president of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, says the full scope of need may not be known for up to a week as firefighters finish up their response. She also urged potential donors to support organisations with deep local ties and community knowledge.
People can also donate through the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, which vets fundraisers for those who have lost property or were injured. The organisation will conduct additional verification before releasing the funds. They also deduct a transaction fee. Images and stories coming out of the historic town of Lahaina paint an increasingly grim scene as Hawaii’s emergency responders work to rescue victims and control wildfires that have ravaged parts of Maui this week.
A flyover of the area Thursday showed normally vibrant communities had been reduced to gray and black. Street after street was nothing but rubble and foundation, said Associated Press video journalist Ty O’Neil, who was on the flight. The road was littered with charred vehicles, and an elementary school was left a mess of collapsed steel. Though pockets of wispy smoke remained, there were no active flames visible.
President Joe Biden spoke with Gov Green by phone and offered his condolences for lives lost and land destroyed by the wildfires, the White House said. He pledged federal disaster aid to ensure that “anyone who’s lost a loved one, or who’s home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately.” Officials on Thursday confirmed 55 deaths from the wildfires that swept across parts of Maui this week, driven by fierce winds from a hurricane passing far south of the island chain. Dozens more people were injured.
Biden declares wildfires a ‘Major disaster’, approves federal aid
US President Joe Biden on Thursday declared Hawaii wildfires a “major disaster” and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas impacted by the wildfires since August 8. Biden’s action makes federal funding available to impacted people in Maui County. A White House statement said, “Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Hawaii and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires beginning on August 8, 2023, and continuing.”
The assistance announced by Biden includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help people and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster, according to the White House statement. Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private non-profit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Maui County and assistance for emergency protective measures for Hawaii County.