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Hundreds Still Missing In Hawaii After Deadly Wildfires

Hawaii wildfires

The “validated list”, curated by the FBI, includes 388 names, as cell phone data now also is being used to try to pinpoint where victims may have been when the wildfire tore through Hawaii’s Maui Island, reports Asian Lite News

Nearly 400 people remain unaccounted for following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui Island which have claimed at least 115 lives since its eruption on August 8.

The “validated list”, curated by the FBI, includes 388 names, as cell phone data now also is being used to try to pinpoint where victims may have been when the deadliest US wildfire disaster in more than 100 years tore through the island, CNN quoted the Maui County as saying. 

“We’re releasing this list of names because we know that it will help with the investigation,” Police Chief John Pelletier said in a statement.

“We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for folks whose loved ones are listed. This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”

The FBI has worked with agencies “to unduplicate people that have been reported missing”, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green had said on Thursday.

Hawaii wildfires

Wind-whipped flames tore through the Maui Island on August 8 following the historic town of Lahaina was left in ruins, with entire neighbourhoods and businesses reduced to ash,reports CNN.

As search crews and cadaver dogs have searched 100 per cent of single-storey homes in the disaster area, they were now going through multistorey homes and commercial properties, Maui County officials had said earlier in the week.

ALSO READ: Biden, First Lady survey Hawaii wildfire devastation

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-Top News USA

Biden promises visit to wildfire stricken Hawaii amid criticism

Over 500 federal emergency personnel have so far been dispatched to help with relief efforts, including 150 search and rescue specialists…reports Asian Lite News

Amid criticism of his administration’s response to the deadly wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui Island that have killed at least 99 people so far, US President Joe Biden has vowed to visit the state “as soon as he can”.

Addressing reporters in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Biden said he wanted to ensure that the people in the state had “everything they need”, reports the BBC.

The President said that he hadn’t visited yet because of concerns that doing so would divert resources and attention from the humanitarian response.

He also announced that First Lady Jill Biden will accompany him to Hawaii.

“I don’t want to get in the way. I’ve been to too many disaster areas. I want to be sure we don’t disrupt ongoing recovery efforts,” the BBC quoted the President as saying

Over 500 federal emergency personnel have so far been dispatched to help with relief efforts, including 150 search and rescue specialists.

Additional personnel are being sent to Maui to help those already on the ground, President Biden said, adding that “all available federal assets” in the region will be used for recovery efforts, including the US military and Coast Guard.

“It’s painstaking work. It takes time and it’s nerve wracking. Every asset they need will be there for them. And we’ll be there in Maui as long as it takes.”

But as authorities fear an increase in the death toll in the coming days, Hawaii residents have complained about the pace of the federal government’s response to the disaster.

On Monday, Governor Josh Green said that only 25 per cent of the affected area had been properly searched for human remains.

Approximately 80 per cent of Lahaina — a historic town of about 12,000 residents — has been completely destroyed in the blaze.

As frustration builds among the residents, a local Les Munn, told the BBC that he has so far received only $500 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) which has approved one-time payments of $700 per household to help with immediate needs in the wake of the disaster.

Another local, Felicia Johnson, said that “everybody wants the glory but nobody wants to put their feet on the ground”.

On a street above the fire line in Lahaina, a woman told the BBC said she feared she would starve to death in the days after the fire.

Ahead of a second trip into the worst-hit area, Amory Mowrey spent $1,700 to load his and his friend’s SUVs with toilet paper, cases of water, packs of batteries and sacks of rice.

“We’re just trying to get supplies as fast as possible into the affected areas so people get what they need,” he told the BBC. “There’s a lack of response, it felt like, from large organisations.”

Liz Germansky, who lost her home in the fire, said that “the government’s getting in the way of people helping”.

“I don’t think the government could have done less,” she told the BBC.

The Hawaii wildfires now the deadliest in more than a century in modern US history, surpassing the Camp Fire that erupted on November 8, 2018, in California and killed at least 85 people.

ALSO READ-Hawaii wildfire death toll hits 99

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USA

Hawaii activates National Guard as lava nears key highway

Since its eruption on November 27, Mauna Loa has been shooting jets of lava toward the sky and down the massive mountain…reports Asian Lite News

The world’s largest active volcano, the Mauna Loa in Hawaii, has prompted the US National Guard to help as residents and tourists flock to witness the rare scene.

Since its eruption on November 27, Mauna Loa has been shooting jets of lava toward the sky and down the massive mountain, reports Xinhua news agency.

While officials said there is still no immediate risk to communities on Hawaii’s Big Island, lava has now crept within 2 miles of the main highway connecting the eastern and western halves of the Big Island.

“The leading edge of the lava flow continues to have minimal movement … and is approximately 2 miles from Daniel K. Inouye highway,” the County of Hawaii’s hazards website said on Tuesday.

“It does not pose a threat to any communities at this time.”

During the past 24 hours, the lava flow advanced at an average rate of about 25 feet per hour (8 metres per hour), according to the update of the US Geological Survey (USGS) on Monday.

Though the advance rate has slowed in the past several days, the lava flow remains active with a continuous supply from one active fissure, known as the fissure 3 vent, according to the USGS.

As residents and tourists flocked to witness the rare eruption, officials have enlisted the help of the National Guard.

Hawaii’s Defence Department said Governor David Ige and Major General Kenneth Hara activated 20 Hawaii National Guard service members and placed them on active duty.

Officials also created a safe viewing spot on a one-way route accessible through the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, said the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.

“If the eruption continues, it might cover the highway. But at this stage, it’s still about 2.3 miles away from the highway. But it is advancing every day,” said Natalia Deligne, a volcanologist with the USGS at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

“We don’t know how long this eruption is going to last, and that will dictate whether or not the highway becomes more threatened,” Deligne said.

The Mauna Loa volcano is erupting for the first time since 1984.

In the week since the eruption, the stream of lava has coursed northeast, away from the volcano’s summit.

The eruption has attracted waves of visitors.

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COVID-19 USA

Hawaii becomes sole US state keeping mask mandate

States across the US have moved to end masking requirements as cases of Covid-19 continue to drop….reports Asian Lite News

Hawaii is the only remaining US state sticking with an indoor mask mandate as Covid-19 cases continued to decline across the country, a media report said.

Hawaii, which has had the country’s fewest cases per capita over the course of the pandemic, has seen its daily average of new cases plummet about 70 per cent over the past two weeks, Xinhua news agency quoted The New York Times report on Tuesday as saying.

As of Wednesday morning, Hawaii’s overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 234,701 and 1,304, respectively.

“I am working with the Department of Health to determine when the time is right for Hawaii to lift the indoor mask mandate,” Governor David Ige told the local media on Tuesday.

“Hawaii ranks second (to the last) in the nation when it comes to Covid deaths, in part because of the indoor mask requirement and other measures that have proven successful in protecting our community from this potentially deadly virus,” he added.

States across the US have moved to end masking requirements as cases of Covid-19 continue to drop.

Some Governors have ended universal indoor and outdoor masking mandates, while others have lifted statewide face covering requirements for schools.

In a statement, the Hawaii State Department of Education said there are no current plans to drop mask mandates in classrooms.

Three other states — California, Maryland and New York — as well as Washington, D.C., have also not announced end dates for their indoor school face covering mandates.

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