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Maui wildfires kill 53 as Hawaii foresees years-long recovery


Maui's wildfires have killed at least 53 people and turned the resort town of
Lahaina into smoldering ruins that will take many years and billions of dollars
to rebuild, Hawaiian officials said on Thursday.

Thousands of people will need immediate housing, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told
a news conference, and he estimated as many as 1,000 buildings were damaged or
destroyed,

"It's going to take many years to rebuild Lahaina," Green said, as officials
began to map out a plan to shelter the newly homeless in hotels and tourist
rental properties.

"We're going to need to house thousands of people," Green said.

The fast-moving inferno caught the island of Maui off guard after at least three
major fires broke out on Tuesday, cutting off the western side of the island.
Some people fled the flames by jumping into the Pacific Ocean.

Thousands of tourists were trying to leave Maui, many of them camped in the
airport waiting for flights.

Many more people suffered burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries. Search and
rescue efforts continue, and thousands of people have fled into emergency
shelters or left the island.  

Vixay Phonxaylinkham, a tourist from Fresno, California, said he was trapped on
Lahaina's Front Street in a rental car with his wife and children as the fires
approached, forcing the family to abandon the car and jump into the Pacific
Ocean.   

"We floated around four hours," Phonxaylinkham said from the airport while
awaiting a flight off the island, describing how they held onto pieces of wood
for floatation.

"It was a vacation that turned into a nightmare. I heard explosions everywhere,
I heard screaming, and some people didn't make it. I feel so sad," he said.  

The death toll rose by 17 on Thursday to reach 53, Maui County said in a
statement that also reported the Lahaina fire was 80% contained, as firefighters
secured the perimeter of the wildland areas that burned.

The Pulehu fire, about 20 miles (30 km) east of Lahaina, was 70% contained.
There was no estimate for the Upcountry fire in the center of the eastern mass
of the island, Maui County said.

The Lahaina fire reduced entire neighborhoods to ashes on the western side of
the island. Lahaina is one of Maui's prime attractions, drawing 2 million
tourists each year, or about 80% of the island's visitors.

Tourists and locals alike fled with few or none of their belongings as the fire
spread rapidly due to dry conditions, a buildup of fuels and strong winds.

"It was so hot all around me, I felt like my shirt was about to catch on fire,"
said Nicoangelo Knickerbocker, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina, said from one
of the four emergency shelters opened on the island.  

Knickerbocker heard cars and a gas station explode, and soon after fled the town
with his father, bringing with them only the clothes they were wearing and the
family dog.

"It sounded like a war was going on," he said.

The fires were the worst disaster to befall Hawaii since 1960, one year after it
became a U.S. state, when a tsunami killed 61 people.

The fate of some of Lahaina's cultural treasures remains unclear. The historic
60-foot(18-meter)-tall banyan tree marking the spot where Hawaiian King
Kamehameha III's 19th-century palace stood was still standing, though some of
its boughs appeared charred, according to a Reuters witness.

U.S. President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, allowing
affected individuals and business owners to apply for federal housing and
economic recovery grants.

The cause of the Maui wildfires has yet to be determined, officials said, but
the National Weather Service said dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity
fueled them.

Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an
environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and
Political Science, but this year's fires are burning faster and bigger than
usual.

The Big Island of Hawaii also experienced at least two major brush fires.

Scenes of fiery devastation have become all too familiar elsewhere in the world
this summer. Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat, forced the
evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other
parts of Europe. In western Canada, a series of unusually severe fires sent
clouds of smoke over vast swaths of the U.S., polluting the air.

Human-caused climate change, driven by fossil fuel use, is increasing the
frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events, scientists say, having
long warned that countries must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.

 

 (Reporting by Marco Garcia in Kahului; Additional reporting by Rich McKay,
Brendan O'Brien, Joseph Ax and Jonathan Allen; Writing by Jonathan Allen and
Daniel Trotta; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)

 

 
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Maui's wildfires have killed at least 53 people and turned the resort town of
Lahaina into smoldering ruins that will take many years and billions of dollars
to rebuild, Hawaiian officials said on Thursday.

Thousands of people will need immediate housing, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told
a news conference, and he estimated as many as 1,000 buildings were damaged or
destroyed,

"It's going to take many years to rebuild Lahaina," Green said, as officials
began to map out a plan to shelter the newly homeless in hotels and tourist
rental properties.

"We're going to need to house thousands of people," Green said.

The fast-moving inferno caught the island of Maui off guard after at least three
major fires broke out on Tuesday, cutting off the western side of the island.





Some people fled the flames by jumping into the Pacific Ocean.



Thousands of tourists were trying to leave Maui, many of them camped in the
airport waiting for flights.

Many more people suffered burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries. Search and
rescue efforts continue, and thousands of people have fled into emergency
shelters or left the island.  

Vixay Phonxaylinkham, a tourist from Fresno, California, said he was trapped on
Lahaina's Front Street in a rental car with his wife and children as the fires
approached, forcing the family to abandon the car and jump into the Pacific
Ocean.   

"We floated around four hours," Phonxaylinkham said from the airport while
awaiting a flight off the island, describing how they held onto pieces of wood
for floatation.

"It was a vacation that turned into a nightmare. I heard explosions everywhere,
I heard screaming, and some people didn't make it. I feel so sad," he said.  

The death toll rose by 17 on Thursday to reach 53, Maui County said in a
statement that also reported the Lahaina fire was 80% contained, as firefighters
secured the perimeter of the wildland areas that burned.

The Pulehu fire, about 20 miles (30 km) east of Lahaina, was 70% contained.
There was no estimate for the Upcountry fire in the center of the eastern mass
of the island, Maui County said.

The Lahaina fire reduced entire neighborhoods to ashes on the western side of
the island. Lahaina is one of Maui's prime attractions, drawing 2 million
tourists each year, or about 80% of the island's visitors.

Tourists and locals alike fled with few or none of their belongings as the fire
spread rapidly due to dry conditions, a buildup of fuels and strong winds.

"It was so hot all around me, I felt like my shirt was about to catch on fire,"
said Nicoangelo Knickerbocker, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina, said from one
of the four emergency shelters opened on the island.  

Knickerbocker heard cars and a gas station explode, and soon after fled the town
with his father, bringing with them only the clothes they were wearing and the
family dog.

"It sounded like a war was going on," he said.

The fires were the worst disaster to befall Hawaii since 1960, one year after it
became a U.S. state, when a tsunami killed 61 people.

The fate of some of Lahaina's cultural treasures remains unclear. The historic
60-foot(18-meter)-tall banyan tree marking the spot where Hawaiian King
Kamehameha III's 19th-century palace stood was still standing, though some of
its boughs appeared charred, according to a Reuters witness.

U.S. President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, allowing
affected individuals and business owners to apply for federal housing and
economic recovery grants.

The cause of the Maui wildfires has yet to be determined, officials said, but
the National Weather Service said dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity
fueled them.

Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an
environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and
Political Science, but this year's fires are burning faster and bigger than
usual.

The Big Island of Hawaii also experienced at least two major brush fires.

Scenes of fiery devastation have become all too familiar elsewhere in the world
this summer. Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat, forced the
evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other
parts of Europe. In western Canada, a series of unusually severe fires sent
clouds of smoke over vast swaths of the U.S., polluting the air.

Human-caused climate change, driven by fossil fuel use, is increasing the
frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events, scientists say, having
long warned that countries must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.

 

 (Reporting by Marco Garcia in Kahului; Additional reporting by Rich McKay,
Brendan O'Brien, Joseph Ax and Jonathan Allen; Writing by Jonathan Allen and
Daniel Trotta; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)

 

>
 
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 * Sie isst einen Monat jeden Tag Ingwer. Und das hier passiert
 * Unbekannter Anruf? Mit diesem Trick erfährst du sofort, wer es war!
 * Wusstest du, dass deine Schlafposition etwas über deine Gesundheit aussagt?
   Das ist kein Zufall!


>
 
Ads by Adblade
 * Was sagt deine Nase über deine Persönlichkeit aus?
 * Sie isst einen Monat jeden Tag Ingwer. Und das hier passiert
 * Unbekannter Anruf? Mit diesem Trick erfährst du sofort, wer es war!
 * Wusstest du, dass deine Schlafposition etwas über deine Gesundheit aussagt?
   Das ist kein Zufall!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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