The top pic. shows the census-designated place (CDP) of Lahaina on the island of Maui. You can see the scattered clouds by the mountains where the air has to lift to get over the mountains.
Update – Saturday AM – Some good news: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says number missing from Maui fire could drop from 388 to fewer than 100. The death toll remains at 115. As of Saturday PM, fifty victims have been identified with names released to the public, including a family of four that were trying to flee the fire in their car. That’s one additional name identified since yesterday.
Millions of relief money raised, but how much is getting to the victims.
There are still over 350 people technically unaccounted for, but officials were still optimistic that many of those will be accounted for in the near future.
A Fire Weather Warning was in effect Thursday, August 31 for the Hawaiian Islands. Fortunately, there were no significant wildfires.
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A fire started the morning of Aug. 8, started by a downed electric wire. That fire appears to have been extinguished and was listed as 100% contained. There were some evacuations, but the fire was extinguished rapidly with ground hoses and help from a helicopter.
A second fire erupted that same afternoon near an elementary school and quickly intensified with the very strong winds that were blowing.
Hawaiian Electric The company said there was no electricity flowing through the wires in Lahaina or anywhere else on the West Maui coast by the time that the second fire broke out that afternoon. The statement says, “All of Hawaiian Electric’s power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for more than six hours.”
They released this statement:
- A fire at 6:30 a.m. (the “Morning Fire”) appears to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds.
- The Maui County Fire Department responded to this fire, reported it was “100% contained,” left the scene and later declared it had been “extinguished
- At about 3 p.m., a time when all of Hawaiian Electric’s power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for more than six hours, a second fire (the “Afternoon Fire”) began in the same area.
- The cause of the devastating Afternoon Fire has not been determined.
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The local WalMart was giving away free ice and the DMV opened on Saturday for those needing to order a new driver’s license.
Some Good News! As I write this, a total of 1,732 that were on an original missing list have now been found. This includes people who were tourists from other countries that may still be traveling.
About 80% of the city of 12,700 burned in the wildfire that occurred half a month ago on Aug. 8. We may never had an exact, accurate account of the number of fatalities. Some of the missing are seasonal residents, gone during the summer, some are homeless, some are known only by their first name. With some there is no gender, age or description. Approximately 2,000 structures were burned.
After the Camp Fire in California in 2018, there were 1,000 missing. The final count of fatalities turned out to be 85.
Out of all the Hawaiian Islands, Maui is most dependent on tourism – a major part of the island’s economy. They report that hotel occupancy was about 57%, well below average for this time of year. Overall, the Hawaiian Islands had an 80% occupancy rate and that was a little below average. The loss of tourist dollars is partly offset by those coming to the island to help with relief efforts.
Some debris may be toxic. Relief staff worked to make sure everyone had their prescriptions filled. 900 landlords have offered space to rent (hotels, Airbnbs and regular residents with a spare bedroom or two. Bottled water is being used for drinking, bathing. Others are working to reunite pets with owners. They are working on a plan to get children back to school. A high school, middle school and two elementary schools were affected by the flames.
The cause of the wildfire has not been determined. Speculation centers around a live power line toppled by the fierce winds that day.
