Lahaina fire aftermath: Aerial photos show extent of the damage caused by catastrophic fire – but officials STILL don’t know what started the blaze
- The town of Lahaina on Maui was entirely razed by the wildfire that started on Tuesday and spread quickly
- President Biden has declared a major disaster in the state to assist the governor with the recovery effort
Horrifying images taken at daybreak today show the extent of the damage in Lahaina, the Maui town that was entirely torched by a merciless wildfire on Tuesday.
Thirty-six people were killed, dozens injured and hundreds remain missing as a result of the fire that remains a mystery to many residents.
Local officials still do not know the precise origin of the fire. It spread quickly and ferociously because it was fanned by strong winds from the passing Hurricane Dora.
Those gusts coupled with dry conditions on Maui and low humidity spelled disaster for residents, many of whom escaped with seconds to spare.
As they begin to assess the damage, many are still looking for their loved ones after two days of terror.
‘We woke up and got on our phones to see pictures of our house down to slab. Nothing but smoke and cinders,’ one shell-shocked local said.
A man walks through the smoldering ruins of Lahaina on Wednesday
Burnt out cars are seen after the fires ravaged parts of Maui
A man is seen on Thursday filming the devastation in Lahaina
Smoke from the fires rises above Lahaina on Thursday
The debris of an ocean-front home is pictured on Wednesday
Views from the air of the community of Lahaina on Thursday
An aerial view shows destroyed homes and buildings that burned to the ground around the harbor and Front Street in the historic Lahaina Town in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii, on August 10, 2023
Local officials still do not know the precise origin of the fire. It spread quickly and ferociously because it was fanned by strong winds from the passing Hurricane Dora
As locals begin to assess the damage, many are still looking for their loved ones after two days of terror
Officials said earlier Wednesday that 271 structures had been damaged or destroyed and that dozens of people had been injured.
‘We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,’ Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday.
He said search and rescue teams still won’t be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they’re sure they can get to those areas safely.
‘What we have here is a natural disaster,’ Weintraub said. ‘There may have been questions that need to be examined about whether it was handled in the right way.
‘But we still got people in danger. We still have people who don’ have homes. We still have people who can’t find their loved ones.’
There are hundreds still missing from Lahaina, which saw the worst of the fires.
Frantic relatives are sharing a Google document to update one another on their loved ones’ whereabouts.
President Biden has declared a major disaster in the state of Hawaii to free up emergency funding for local officials.
The search of the wreckage on Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years
An aerial view of Lahaina after wildfires burned through the town on the Hawaiian island of Maui, on August 10, 2023. At least 36 people have died after a fast-moving wildfire turned Lahaina to ashes, officials said August 9
An aerial view shows the historic banyan tree along with destroyed homes, boats, and buildings burned to the ground in the historic Lahaina town in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii, on August 10, 2023
Where houses once stood is now ash and cinder. Thousands have lost their homes and hundreds are missing 48 hours after the fires
The burnt wreckage of a boat is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii
Shell-shocked residents of Maui survey the damage from a wildfire that claimed 36 lives on Tuesday night
Family members have been urged to contact the Red Cross as well as local hospitals in a bid to locate their relatives, after communication lines have been severed due to the level of destruction by the fire.
State officials are working with hotels and airlines to try to evacuate thousands of tourists to another island.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation confirmed that Maui’s Kahului Airport is open, with thousands stranded there trying to escape the island.
As fires closed in all the way up to the shoreline, frantic locals jumped into the water in the harbor to escape the flames on Tuesday night. Twelve people were rescued from the waves by boats.
Distraught residents of Lahaina woke up to photos and videos of their homes entirely destroyed.
One escaped with his wife, children and dog and slept in a Whole Foods parking lot before waking to the news that their home had been destroyed.
‘We got to this side of the island midnight last night, with my wife and dog, we slept in a parking lot at Whole Foods. We woke up and got on our phones to pictures of our house down to slab. Nothing but smoke and cinders. We have the clothes we got on, a dog and two kids. And here we are,’ he told NBC News.
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years
Maui’s part-time residents include Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, Steven Tyler, Owen Wilson and more. Larry Ellison owns almost the entire island of Lanai, which sits near to the town of Lahaina. Fleetwood Mac’s Mick has encouraged fundraising efforts and is himself suffering the loss of his restaurant. There has been silence from the others as thousands of locals try to put the pieces of their lives and homes back together
After hearing reports her home was destroyed along with her pets, Steff Baku-Kirkman is distraught
People gather while waiting for flights at Kahului Airport Wednesday. Several thousand residents raced to escape their homes on Maui as fires swept across the island
One local told reporters on Wednesday: ‘We’ve still got dead bodies floating on the seawall.
‘They’ve been sitting there since last night. We’ve been pulling people out since last night, trying to save peoples’ lives.’
As residents woke to another day of destruction, many were wondering where the island’s richest landowners are – and what they’re prepared to do to help.
Oprah, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Clint Eastwood and Steven Tyler are among big names with homes on Maui but none have commented yet on how they intend to help those in need.
Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez posted on Instagram that the fires were ‘breaking her heart’, but he is yet to offer a statement.
With a net worth of $162billion, he is the third richest man in the world. Bezos owns a $78million property on Maui’s southwest shore.
A source close to the couple tells DailyMail.com they are ‘devastated’ by the disaster.
‘They have been on the phone with locals and local officials since yesterday. They will be making donations to help the community,’ they said.
Oprah, worth $2.5billion, owns nearly 2,000 acres of land on Maui and has been living there part-time for 15 years. It’s unclear if any of her land was damaged.
She bought up the most recent parcel – 860 acres – in March this year for $6.6million. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler also has a home on the island as does Owen Wilson and Clint Eastwood.
Source: Read Full Article
