Maui (US): The death toll from the Maui wildfires in Hawaii reached 93, according to the Maui county website, making it the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, with the total likely to rise as cadaver dogs sift through the ruins of Lahaina.
The scale of the damage came into sharper focus four days after a fast-moving blaze levelled the historic resort town, obliterating buildings and melting cars. The cost to rebuild Lahaina was estimated at $5.5 billion, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), with more than 2,200 structures damaged or destroyed and more than 2,100 acres burned.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green warned that the death toll would continue to increase as more victims were discovered. Dogs trained to detect bodies have covered only 3% of the search area, Maui county police chief John Pelletier said. Officials vowed to examine the state’s emergency notification systems after some residents questioned whether more could have been done to warn them before the fire overtook their homes. Some were forced to wade into the Pacific Ocean to escape. Officials have secured 1,000 hotel rooms for people who lost their homes. More than 1,400 people had been taken in at emergency shelters. Sirens stationed around the island - intended to warn of impending natural disasters - never sounded, and widespread power and cellular outages hampered other forms of alerts.