The announcement and rising death toll came as Lahaina residents were allowed to return to town for the first time – with most finding their homes burned down, and even the lucky few angry against a feeling of abandonment.
“It’s all been coir,” said William Harry, referring to a rumor system.
“One person heard, then told another, but that’s not official information. They don’t come here to explain anything.”
Another man, who did not want to be named, told AFP he felt left to his own devices.
“Where is the government? Where are they ? he fumed.
“It’s insane. We can’t move freely, we don’t get support, now we’ve heard of looting.”
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said her office will review “critical decision-making and ongoing policies before, during and after the wildfires on Maui and Hawai’i this week.”
“My department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing the results of this review with the public.”
Late Friday, Maui County officials gave an updated death toll from the disaster.
“The death toll is 80,” the county said, adding that 1,418 people were in emergency evacuation shelters.
Meeting
For some of those who returned to Lahaina, there was elation as they tearfully reconnected with neighbors they feared had not made it out alive.
“You did it!” Chyna Cho cried, kissing Amber Langdon in the middle of the ruins. “I was trying to find you.”
For some of the lucky ones, there was joy — albeit tempered by the scale of the tragedy that ranks among the worst natural disasters to hit the state of Hawaii.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Keith Todd told AFP after finding his house intact.
“I’m so grateful, but at the same time, it’s so devastating.”
Todd, 64, discovered his house and his neighbour’s house intact, and his solar panels providing electricity to the fridge, which still dispensed ice on demand.
But even the few people whose homes still appeared habitable were warned that they might not be safe.
“Some structures in the Lahaina water system were destroyed by the fire…These conditions may have caused harmful contaminants, including benzene and other volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), to enter the water system. ‘water,” the Maui Water Department said.
“As a precaution…(we) are advising residents not to use tap water for drinking and cooking until further notice.”
‘It hurts’
Some of those who returned to Lahaina wandered in stunned silence, trying to comprehend the enormity of the destruction.
Anthony La Puente said the shock of finding his house burnt down was profound.
“It sucks not being able to find the things you grew up with or the things you remember,” he told AFP of the house he lived in for 16 years.
“The only thing I can say is it hurts. It affects you emotionally,” the 44-year-old said.
La Puente dug into the still warm ashes of her home, choosing a Starbucks cup that had survived, but was desperate for the loss of irreplaceable things, like mementos of her late father.
“I had packed my dad’s things” hoping to sort them out at some point, he said.
But that will never happen.
“Now it’s on.”
cadaver dogs
The number of people killed has topped the tally since a tsunami hit the Big Island in 1960.
“Undoubtedly there will be more deaths. We don’t know how many there will eventually be,” Gov. Josh Green said.
Crews from Honolulu arrived on Maui with search and rescue teams equipped with K-9 cadaver dogs, Maui County said.
Firefighters continued to extinguish outbreaks and contain wildfires in Lahaina, with localized fires evident to the AFP team in the city.
Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said Thursday that up to 1,000 people may be missing, though he stressed that does not mean they are missing or dead.
Communications in the western part of the island remain tricky, and Pelletier said many of those whose whereabouts were unknown could simply be out of reach.
The fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave in the southwestern United States.
Europe and parts of Asia have also suffered high temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc.
