‘Screams out of hell’: Pictures show hellscape revealed as sun rises on Hawaii
The death toll from Hawaii’s devastating fires has spiked. About 1000 people remain missing and a town has been completely destroyed.
The sun has risen on the Hawaiian island of Maui, revealing what can only be described as a hellscape left behind after wildfires reduced entire neighbourhoods to ashes.
New images from the island reveal the devastation as survivors tell stories of how they were forced to jump into the ocean to escape the flames.
The number of people known to have been killed in a fast-moving fire has risen to 53, local officials said. About 1000 people are missing and Hawaii’s governor Josh Green warned the death toll would likely rise substantially. Cadaver dogs have been flown in to help search for the missing people, who authorities have not been able to contact.
“It’s a heartbreaking day, without a doubt,” Governor Green said.
“What we have seen today is catastrophic. All of us will have a loved one here on Maui that lost a house, that lost a friend.”
Maui County confirmed the death toll had spiked: “As firefighting efforts continue, 17 additional fatalities have been confirmed today amid the active Lahaina fire. This brings the death toll to 53 people.”
The town of Lahaina was “completely devastated”, CNN reporter Bill Weir said.
Mayor Richard Bissen said of the town: “It’s all gone. None of it’s there. It’s all burnt to the ground.”
Two residents who were in the heart of the city of Lahaina during the wildfires described the chaos as a literal “hell”.
“I saw a couple of people just running, I heard screams out of hell … explosions. It felt like we were in hell, it really was,” one of the men, who asked not to be named, told KHON2. “It was just indescribable.”
Another survivor added: “You couldn’t really see anything, sometimes it was just blacked out by the smoke, but you could still see the flames.”
Fast-moving wildfires forced rescuers on Thursday to race to evacuate more people from the worst-hit island of Maui.
Brushfires on Maui’s west coast – fuelled by high winds from a hurricane passing to the south – broke out Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina. It is now one of the deadliest disasters in Hawaii history and the deadliest US wildfire in five years.
President Joe Biden issued a national disaster declaration and unblocked federal aid for relief efforts, as residents said they needed more help and feared it would take years for the town to recover.
US Coast Guard commander Aja Kirksey told CNN that initial reports indicated there “were around 100 that had to enter the water.”
Ms Kirksey said helicopters dispatched to the area faced extremely low visibility due to the smoke, but that a Coast Guard vessel had been able to retrieve more than 50 people from the water.
“It was a really rapidly developing scene and pretty harrowing for the victims that had to jump into the water,” she added.
For resident Kekoa Lansford, the official response was lacking.
“We have been pulling people out … We’re trying to save people’s lives, and I feel like we are not getting the help we need,” Lansford told CBS. “We still get dead bodies in the water floating and on the seawall.”
Aerial photographs of Lahaina, which served as the Hawaiian kingdom’s capital in the early 19th century, showed entire blocks reduced to cinders.
Officials said 36 people had been confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise as searches continue.
“With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video posted to Facebook.
“In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a (community) …” he added, “as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.”
Evacuations continue
Thousands of people have been evacuated from Maui, with plans for more flights out of the main airport in Kahului.
Maui County has requested that visitors leave “as soon as possible” and has organised buses to move evacuees from shelters to the airport.
A first responder who was in the town after the blaze swept through described a scene of devastation.
“As you drive down the road … either way you look, it’s honestly just rubble,” the person told AFP anonymously because they were not authorised to speak to the press.
“With how much-charred materials there were … I don’t think much is alive in there.”
Hawaii Governor Josh Green was returning early from a trip to deal with the crisis.
Call for climate emergency
Wildfires have been raging on the Big Island of Hawaii due to high winds and dry vegetation caused by a passing hurricane.
Hawaii’s tourism chief, Jimmy Tokioka, acknowledged the tragedy but reassured travellers that the “rest of Hawaii is open.”
According to Thomas Smith, a professor with the London School of Economics, the fires this year “are burning a greater area than usual, and the fire behaviour is extreme, with fast spread rates and large flames.”
This summer has seen other extreme weather events in North America, such as record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a significant heatwave baking the US southwest.
As global temperatures rise, more frequent heatwaves are projected, with changing rainfall patterns creating ideal conditions for bush or forest fires.
Some are urging President Biden to declare a national climate change emergency to access more administrative powers to tackle the crisis.
White House official John Kirby stated that the president was treating the situation with all the seriousness it deserved and that rising temperatures across the globe “definitely caused” these wildfires and severe storms.
– with AFP and New York Post
Urgent travel warning for Aussies
Escalating warfare has forced the Australian government to issue a dire warning, saying flights out of one country may soon not be an option.
Parent’s tragic confession after deaths
The father of two brothers killed on a surfing trip to Mexico has revealed a heartbreaking, six-word confession.
Tourist entry fee tripled for popular country
Stepping foot onto Aotearoa New Zealand just got even pricier for tourists, as the government hikes the tourist levy fee.