2023-08-11 20:31:29
Seen from the sky, Lahaina is a heap of ashes, buildings on the edge of the ocean charred, a city almost razed, a historic center completely destroyed. It is in this region, west of the island of Maui that research is concentrated to find survivors following the fire that ravaged the island of Maui in the Pacific. Impossible to draw up a definitive assessment: the authorities estimate the number of missing at a thousand, but how many of them are dead? Difficult to say as communication is complicated in parts of the island still deprived of electricity or telephone.
« I think the toll can still get heavier, because it only concerns people found outside burned buildings “, declared, on Friday August 11, the mayor of the island, Richard Bissen. We have not yet been able to access the interior of the buildings, we are awaiting the arrival of help from the American federal agency specialized in emergency situations (Fema) equipped to carry out these operations.
« For the momentexplains the mayor, we focus on the missing. We want to bring families together. We want to give everyone information: to know if they are in shelters or if they are among those who perished. »
14,000 evacuations by plane on Thursday
While all the fires are not yet under control, residents and tourists continue to evacuate the disaster areas to return to emergency centers or the Maui airport. Local authorities recorded 14,000 evacuations by plane this Thursday, August 10. This Friday, the spokesman for the White House declared a state of emergency which should make it possible to release funds for relief, emergency accommodation and reconstruction.
These devastating fires come in the middle of a summer marked by a series of extreme weather events, all over the planet. “ Many of the conditions that allowed the fire to spread so quickly are compatible with climate changedecrypts Erica Fleishman, director at the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute. Much of the island of Maui is currently in a state of drought. On site, the wild vegetation has been replaced by other plants such as grasses which burn more easily. It is true that some of the vegetation is probably not as resistant as it might have been in the past […]. In Hawaii, there are also longer-term changes in precipitation, so it is both warmer and in some places a bit drier. ».
Read alsoUnited States: Hawaii ravaged by flames, dozens dead and thousands evacuated
1691790676
#Hawaii #fire #largest #natural #disaster #state #history #authorities
