A search of the wildfire devastation on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of obliterated neighborhoods and landmarks charred beyond recognition, as the death toll rose to at least 53 and survivors told harrowing tales of narrow escapes with only the clothes on their backs.
A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighborhoods that had been a vibrant vision of color and island life reduced to gray ash.
Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago.
Boats in the harbor were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.
Passenger plane captures devastating wildfires happening in Lahaina, Hawaii.
“Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed by fires that were still burning, he said.
And with power and cell service out in western Maui, officials don’t know how many people who may have tried to escape are still missing.
“What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history,” Gov. Josh Green said in the news conference after touring Lahaina on Thursday. “All of us will have a loved one here on Maui that we know of, that lost a house, that lost a friend.”
The 53 deaths would make the wildfire that torched Lahaina’s historic districts the second deadliest blaze in the United States in a century. It would trail only California’s Camp Fire, which killed 85 people in 2018.
With thousands of people now with nowhere to go, Green appealed to hotels and residents across the state to open their rooms and homes to those who have been displaced.
“If you have additional space in your home, if you have the capacity to take someone in from west Maui, please do,” the governor said. “Please consider bringing those people into your lives.”
Among them is Dustin Kaleiopu, whose home in Lahaina was destroyed. “My colleagues, friends, family – we’re all homeless,” Kaleiopu said.
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