A fire that has enveloped the picturesque town in Maui this week has killed numerous people naming it one of the deadliest US wildfire of the past century. Ninety-six people have been confirmed dead, officials said Sunday night, an uptick from the previous count of 93.
Quite a few unknown number of people are still unaccounted for and search parties are being carried on. Two other fires burning in Maui have reported no fatalities reported so far.A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community in West Maui north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish on time. The wildfires have also already damaged or in many cases completely taken out over 2,200 different structures. This the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said at a Saturday night news conference. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.” The Maui wildfires have become the deadliest in the US in more than a century, surpassing the California’s 2018 Camp Fire, according to research from the National Fire Protection Association. The American Red Cross has set up an emergency evacuation shelter. Lahaina Gateway Center and Napili Plaza have been serving as distribution center for food, water and other supplies.
It’s still unknown how the fires started. But when they did ignite, extremely dry conditions combined with 70- to 80-mph wind gusts fueled the flames as they spread rapidly.While the Federal Emergency Management Agency had earlier said that it was premature to assign even an approximate dollar amount to the damage done on Maui, the governor estimated that “the losses approach $6 billion.”
