The magnitude of the tragedy on the Hawaiian island of Maui is extraordinary, but it could be much worse.
The fire in that territory has left at least 67 dead, pending new counts. The prospects were not very hopeful. The governor himself, Josh Green, assured this Friday that "the number of deaths is going to grow significantly."
He affirmed this when announcing that the residents of Lahaina, a historic city that was the capital of the kingdom of Hawaii and where human and material damage is concentrated, could begin to return to their residences yesterday. Or what is left of them: 80% is in ruins and ashes. “Prepare for the emotional impact. I feel like, from my 25 years of experience in hospital ERs, coming back will be quite a shock to many,” he said.
There are many residents who are looking for relatives and who turn to the authorities requesting information. The governor offered no figures. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier did. He estimated that the number of missing is approximately 1,000, although he added that he was not absolutely certain.
"This does not mean that all have died, nor how many may have survived," he specified amid the chaos caused by the devastation. He did not rule out that a part of these people are part of those who managed to leave their homes and find refuge. On an island of 12,000 residents, at least 2,000 have been left homeless and needed to find a place to stay, in hotels or other homes. At that time he had not yet started searching the destroyed buildings.
"Never in a million years would I have imagined that the fire would reach our home," La Phena Davis told CNN in the midst of the disaster.
Another of the issues that have emerged over the hours focuses on alarms. Many residents said the fire sirens did not work and that they were only alerted when the fast-moving flames were already there.
“I can't comment on whether the alarms went off, it was a very complicated situation,” said Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen. "Everything happened very quickly," and he pointed out that there were winds that reached 128 kilometers per hour, which fueled the fire.
According to what was stated, the authorities chose to send alerts to mobile phones or via television and radio, but widespread power and cell phone blackouts meant that these alerts did not reach their destination.
