The scale of the tragedy on the Hawaiian island of Maui is extraordinary, but it could be much worse.
The fire in this territory has caused at least 55 deaths, pending new counts. The outlook is not very promising. The same governor, Josh Green, assured this Friday that “the number of deaths will grow significantly”.
He affirmed this when he announced that residents of Lahaina, a historic city that was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and where human and material damage is concentrated, could begin to return to their homes yesterday. Or what’s left: 80% is rubble and ashes. “Prepare for the emotional impact. I feel that, based on my experience of 25 years in emergency in a hospital, it will be quite a shock for many to return,” he said.
There are many residents who are looking for relatives and who turn to the authorities to request information. The governor did not provide figures. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier did. He estimated that the number of disappeared is approximately 1,000, although he clarified that he did not have absolute certainty.
“This does not mean that all have died, nor how many may have survived”, he pointed out amid the chaos caused by the devastation. He did not rule out that some of these people are part of those who managed to leave their homes and find shelter. On an island of 12,000 residents, at least 2,000 have been left homeless and it is necessary to find them a place to live, in hotels or other houses. At that time the search had not yet begun in the destroyed buildings.
“Never in a million years would I have imagined that the fire would reach our home,” La Phena Davis told CNN amid the disaster.
Another of the issues that has emerged over time focuses on alarms. Many residents said the fire sirens did not work and were only alerted when the fast-moving flames were already there.
“I can’t comment on whether the alarms went off, it was a very complicated situation,” said Richard Bissen, mayor of Maui County. “Everything happened very quickly” and he noted that there were winds that reached 128 kilometers per hour, which drove the fire.
Authorities, they say, chose to send alerts to cell phones or over television and radio, but widespread power and cellphone outages meant the alerts didn’t reach their destination.
