Hawaii fires: death toll rises to 80 and continues to rise

“The death toll is 80,” Maui County officials in Hawaii said Friday night in a regular post-fire update this week, adding that 1,418 people were evacuated and placed in emergency shelters.as residents begin to return to their homes. The official death toll, which was 55 yesterday, continues to rise.

Criticism of the official response to the disaster is mounting, so Hawaii Attorney General Ann Lopez announced an investigation into how the crisis was handled. Residents complain there were no fire warningswho lured people into the city.

Lopez said she will be conducting a “comprehensive review of the critical decisions and policies that led to, during and after the wildfires on the islands of Maui and Hawaii this week.”

Search parties are using dogs to track down victims of what Gov. Josh Green said was “probably”. largest natural disaster in the history of the state of Hawaii“.

“What we saw today was a disaster,” Greene said after visiting historic Lahaina. The fires devastated more than 800 hectares on two islands in the archipelago and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, some of whom even jumped into the water to protect themselves from the fire.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden declared a natural disaster in Hawaii and ordered federal assistance in addition to state and local efforts to rebuild areas hit by wildfires that began on Tuesday, August 8.


It is the largest natural disaster in the area since the 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. in the town of Hilo, although the 1946 tsunami that killed 158 people before the area became a US state is still a long way off.

A severe drought that has hit the islands in recent months, as well as strong winds from Hurricane Dora, have caused the flames to spread.

Author: german wave
Source: La Opinion

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