The historic town of Lahaina on Hawaii’s island of Maui neary got destroyed completely by raging wildfires exacerbated by hurricane winds.
The state’s US senator, Brian Schatz, claimed on social media that Lahaina is “almost completely burned to the ground.”
Officials said on Wednesday that there were at least six fatalities in Maui County.
Burn victims and those suffering from smoke inhalation have overrun Maui’s hospital system.
Firefighters are still working to put out the fires, and our first responders are in search and rescue mode, according to Mr. Schatz.
According to early Wednesday morning reports, some people attempted to flee the raging flames by jumping into the water. At least twelve persons were pulled from the ocean, according to the US Coast Guard.
At a press conference, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. stated that numerous residences and commercial buildings had been totally destroyed.
One of the town’s 12,000 residents told the local media that every boat in the harbour was on fire.
Chrissy Lovitt said to Hawaii News Now, “It looks like something out of a movie, a war movie.”
The real scale of the damage on Maui, according to officials, is still impossible to assess, and they have issued a warning that the death toll could grow. There have been about 2,100 displaced persons.
Some Lahaina residents’ relatives expressed concern for missing members of their family.
Tiare Lawrence told Hawaii News Now, “I still don’t know where my little brother is. I have no idea where my stepdad is.
“Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have burned down,” Ms. Lawrence added.
According to the monitoring website PowerOutage.us, there were about 13,000 people without power on Maui.
Due to the fires, thousands of people were left without cell phone coverage, and West Maui 911 services were unavailable on Wednesday.
On Maui, three sizable fires are still burning and are out of control, according to officials.
The Big Island, commonly known as Hawaii island, which is next to Maui, is also engulfed in a number of fires.
Due to the fires, thousands of people were left without cell phone coverage, and West Maui 911 services were unavailable on Wednesday.
On Maui, three sizable fires are still burning and are out of control, according to officials.
The Big Island, commonly known as Hawaii island, which is next to Maui, is also engulfed in a number of fires.
Sylvia Luke, the lieutenant governor of Hawaii, said, “This is not a safe place to be.”
Shelters in certain areas of Maui are overcrowded, Ms. Luke continued. Our resources are subject to taxation.
On the westernmost point of Maui is the historic town of Lahaina. Its centre is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places and dates back to the 1700s.
The second-largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, Maui is situated more than 3,200 kilometres (2,000 miles) from the US mainland in the northern Central Pacific.
It draws a lot of tourists because of its stunning beaches and whale-watching opportunities in the winter, and 2.9 million people visited it last year.
The tiny island features both wet and green jungles and dry, sunny microclimates. Hawaii experiences wet and dry seasons, with droughts growing increasingly frequent on its islands.