At least 80 people have already been killed, but hundreds are still missing from the severe wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The city of Lahaina, in the west of the island, was the hardest hit in recent days. Just under 13,000 people live in the city. It is visited by about two million tourists every year.
Local authorities have reported that new evacuations are now also underway on the island due to a fire that has been raging since Friday evening, northeast of the area that burned down earlier this week. This time it is the city of Kaanapali that is in danger.
Meanwhile, the criticism of the poor preparation of the island authorities is getting louder. An investigation has also been opened into the authorities’ crisis response.
“My services are committed to understanding the decisions made before and during the fires and to sharing the results of this audit with the public,” Magistrate Anne Lopez announced in a press release.
That is not how the sirens that should go off in the event of a fire did not sound, a spokesperson for the crisis management team confirms. However, warning messages were sent to residents’ mobile phones and this message was also broadcast on radio and television.
According to several US media, a review of emergency reports from Maui County shows that when the first flames were seen Tuesday morning near the tourist resort of Lahaina, authorities were dealing with a much larger fire in Kula, in the center of the island.
