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SOME 850 PEOPLE are still missing following devastating wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, according to its mayor.
Richard Bissen, the mayor of Maui, said in a video on Instagram today that the death toll now stands at 114.
He said he will be providing daily updates on Instagram as search and recovery operations continue.
“It is my sad duty to report that 114 individuals have been confirmed deceased,” he said. “27 individuals have been identified and 11 families have been notified.”
The FBI and Maui County Coroner are working to identify all the recovered remains.
Maui residents have criticised the process of recovering lost loved ones – and identifying bodies – as being agonisingly slow.
Bissen continued: “There are currently 850 names on the list of missing persons. There is positive news in this number, because when this process began, the missing person list contained over 2000 names.”
“Over 1,285 individuals have been located safe.”
Ferocious, wind-whipped blazes ripped through the historic town of Lahaina nearly two weeks ago.
Many of those who were killed are believed to have been trapped in their homes or caught in their cars as they made a desperate last-minute bid to escape.
Bissen said: “The number [of fatalities] identified will rise and the number of missing may decrease. But there will be daily fluctuations in the numbers as family members are added and removed from the list.”
He appealed to locals with a missing loved on to aid the identification process by giving a DNA sample to authorities.
He said he would hold a press conference tomorrow where the public would be invited to ask questions via email.
“Our lives have changed forever and things will not be the same. What will be the same is the way we care for each other as we grieve and go through this together.”
President Joe Biden will visit Hawaii today to view the widespread damage and meet with survivors.
Both the federal and state governments have been sharply criticised for being too slow to respond to the disaster.
After an aerial tour of the damage and a briefing by local officials, Biden plans to announce the appointment of a chief federal response coordinator to oversee the recovery effort, according to a White House official.
This Monday, Jill and I will travel to Maui, meeting directly with survivors, first responders and emergency personnel, and state and local officials.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 19, 2023
To the people of Hawai'i: our entire nation stands with you in this time of grief and recovery.
Biden issued a major-disaster declaration on August 10, two days after the devastating fires, to expedite federal funding and assistance to the area.
But some critics, including survivors in Hawaii and some Republicans hoping to face Biden in next year’s presidential election, say federal aid has been inadequate and poorly organised.
Former president Donald Trump said it was “disgraceful” that his successor had not responded more quickly, though White House spokesmen have said Biden delayed his trip so as not to distract officials and rescuers on the ground from recovery efforts.
In a statement Sunday, Biden said, “I know how profoundly loss can impact a family and a community and I know nothing can replace the loss of life. I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy.”
While search teams have covered 85 percent of the search zone, the remaining 15 percent could take weeks, Hawaii Governor Josh Green has said.
He told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the fire’s extreme heat meant it might be impossible to recover some remains “meaningfully.”
Presidential visits to major disaster zones, while viewed as almost politically mandatory, can carry risks.
When President George W. Bush traveled to Louisiana in 2005 to witness the historic devastation of Hurricane Katrina, critics seized on pictures of him looking out the window of Air Force One while flying over New Orleans to say his arms-length visit lacked empathy.
And when then-president Donald Trump casually tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico in 2017, critics called his gesture cavalier and insensitive.
Additional reporting by AFP
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Could they make a commitment, to also not ramp up deforestation in the meantime?
I don’t get the waiting until 2030 if Deforestation is such a problem. It’s like an alcoholic deciding they have a massive drinking problem but deciding they’ll just enjoy it and go with the flow for another 10 years.
@Quiet Goer: i can quit whenever I want
@Quiet Goer: there are unfortunately entire communities that are unskilled, uneducated and whose lives revolve almost entirely around logging. To stop tomorrow, in a country with little to no social programs could mean anything from moving in to the drugs trade to human trafficking or worse
@Quiet Goer: Nothing to stop you from increasing the amount you drink until then either.
Mother earth will have the last laugh when she is finally rid of us.
@OConnelj: yes all it needs to do is let a super volcano
@MrJohne: she doesn’t need to do anything, we’ll make sure of that.
@OConnelj: very true. Our way is just alot more slow and painful. It is sad to think that anyone bringing children into the world today will inherit a world far worse off than the one we inherited. They will face incredible struggles and societal upheaval I fear. I pray to God that I’m wrong on this.
Meanwhile here in Ireland we continue to plant softwood forests for gain, these are dead zones and are no go areas for birds and wildlife.
@Charles Coughlan: It’s also been shown that young forests are a net carbon emitter and don’t become carbon negative until 20+ years after planting. If softwoods are planted and then harvested there is no benefit whatsoever.
Of course they will, all they have to do is put the word sustainable in front of deforestation, hire some clever PR companies and hey presto it’s done. Kinda like sustainable fishing!!!!!
@Derek Lyster: hey, those fish stocks are under fished!
@Derek Lyster: another way around that is to burn large areas of forest by accident & blame climate change.
Then the land could be farmed rather than being replanted.
Why don’t they say who’s really causing global warming, 1921 1.5 billion on planet 2021 over 8 billion, food and water shortage as we speak , migration going to get worse . Too many people consuming more than earth can deliver . We are going to need a thinning of the herd for the world to survive. How about a nice cup of tea then?
@brendan o connell: Apres-vous, Monsieur.
@brendan o connell: “Too many people consuming more than earth can deliver”
Particularly in the west. We use far more resources per capita then people in the developing world. Our consumerist society can’t continue.
@Will: China too. Broken record basing the West who probably are the greenest countries in the workd.
@Merlin Lancelot: The greenest today, look at historical data and how we benefited from using fossil fuels to industrialise and then later become “greener”. India and China have not had the same opportunities and also per capita emit way less CO2 which lends little credence to your ‘West is greener’ comment. Also how much of Chinaese and Indian emission are created making products demanded by the West?
No mention of Biden falling asleep during the speeches, it’s on most international news outlets
XI didn’t
@Jonathan O’Riordan: Xi is a plick
@OConnelj: totally agree
How about a ban on monoculture forests that destroy biodiversaty?
End it now…! More pie in the sky nonsense.
All for optics.
Believe it if you’re inocent.
No mention of sleepy Joe falling asleep? Imagine, his biggest priority is climate change and he cant keep his eyes open, says it all really.
have your say