Officials have named the first casualties of the catastrophic wildfires that ravaged the island of Maui last week.
The first two victims were identified by Maui’s police department as Lahaina residents Buddy Jantoc, 79, and Robert Dyckman, 74.
With nearly 1,300 people still missing, the dead toll from the flames has now reached 106.
Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green has stated that it will probably take a few more days for authorities to determine an exact death toll.
Richard Bissen, the mayor of Maui County, expressed his sincere condolences to the families who are starting to get notifications of their loved ones. “In this most trying time, we offer our prayers of consolation as a community.”
Authorities have identified three other people, he claimed, and their next of kin have been notified.
The president stated on Tuesday that he has yet to go due to worries that doing so would take away from the humanitarian response in terms of resources and attention. He announced that Jill Biden would travel with him to Hawaii.
“I don’t want to be a hindrance. I’ve visited too many areas affected by disasters, Mr. Biden remarked. I’m concerned that we won’t obstruct current recovery efforts.
He declared that the US Coast Guard and US military will be utilised together with “all available federal assets” for recovery efforts in the area.
As more dead are discovered in the most severely affected areas of Maui, officials in Hawaii have stated that they anticipate the death toll to grow in the days ahead. Searches for human remains have only been conducted in 25% of the impacted region thus far.
Lahaina, a town of around 12,000 people, lost 80% of its structure to the fire.
Many Maui locals expressed their frustration with the scope and pace of the recovery efforts to the BBC.
Les Munn, a local, claimed that he had already received $500 (£392) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which is less than the cost of a single night at the majority of the island’s hotels.
He continues to rest in a shelter for the time being.
Everyone wants the limelight, but nobody wants to put their feet on the ground, according to Felicia Johnson, a local.
One woman in Lahaina claimed she feared starvation in the days following the fire on a street above the fire line.
On Maui, a number of supply hubs for relief efforts have been set up.
At her neighbor’s house, one of several grassroots relief supply hubs organised by neighbours in the neighbourhood, people are already delivering bags of ice, water, clothing, batteries, and little solar chargers.
Amory Mowrey spent $1,700 loading up his and his friend’s SUVs with bags of rice, cases of water, packs of batteries, and toilet paper before making a second trip into the most severely affected area.
He explained, “We’re just trying to get goods into the affected areas as quickly as possible so people get what they need. “It felt like there was a lack of response from large organisations.”
Others expressed annoyance that local supplies were being rejected by government representatives or that people were unable to reach Lahaina to assist due to road closures.
Liz Germansky, whose home was destroyed in the fire, complained that “the government is getting in the way of people helping.”
While stuck in a traffic gridlock on the island, she told the BBC, “I don’t think the government could have done less.”
The current course of events is indicative of what we all went through on Tuesday, so it’s understandable how things have spiralled out of control.
More than 500 federal emergency professionals have already been sent, according to the US government, to assist with the rescue operation.
A one-time payout of $700 per household and low-interest disaster loans have also been authorised.