A scene of desolation on Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, after the fires that destroyed the seaside resort on August 8 and 9. August 16, 2023. PHILIP CHEUNG/NYT-REA

Hawaiians continued to search for the dead in the charred rubble of the town following the fire that ravaged the small historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui. The death toll had already reached 111 by Thursday, August 17, and only five people have been officially identified. Families, some of whom are in mainland America, are being asked to send DNA samples to help with identification. The count is not yet complete, with about 1,000 people still unaccounted for, but the fire is already the deadliest to hit the US in a century. It led to the evacuation of over 12,000 people, including tourists. By mid-week, at least 1,400 people were in emergency shelters on the island while more than 3,000 people had requested assistance including shelter and drinking water.

Following the inferno that completely destroyed the seaside town on August 8 and 9, melting even steel structures, authorities are surveying the rubble with the assistance of about 20 dogs. "Over the next 10 days, [the number of victims] could double," said Hawaii's Democratic governor, Josh Green, in an interview on CNN on Monday. At this stage, 38% of the disaster zone has been inspected. In 2018, the number of people missing after the deadly fire in the town of Paradise, California, north of Sacramento, had reached 1,300 in the first days following the blaze, due to communication difficulties. In the end, a total of 85 people had died.

US President Joe Biden, who has hardly spoken on the subject, finally decided to travel to Hawaii on August 21. His silence early on has been the subject of fierce criticism. On August 15, the tabloid New York Post published a front-page headline showing both the survivors of the Hawaii earthquake and Joe Biden on his bike, with the headline "Heartless Joe."

Structural drought

An investigation has been ordered by Governor Green to ascertain the causes of the disaster. It will be led by the state's attorney general, Anne López. No official cause has yet been put forward. Reconstructions made by the US press suggest a scenario that combines the effects of global warming, changes in agricultural land use and power company dysfunction, as was the case in Paradise.

On August 7, the tourist season was in full swing on the island of Maui, but Hurricane Dora was raging more than 1,000 kilometers south of the Pacific archipelago. At around 9 am local time, authorities issue an alert on X (formerly Twitter). "Red Flag Warning is in effect for leeward areas of Hawai‘i, with low humidity, gusty winds and dry fuels creating risk of extreme fire behavior. Use caution with flame outdoors," wrote Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency (EMA). The situation was risky but not considered catastrophic on the small island of Maui, with the alert level at only 2 on a scale of 0 to 4.

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