‘Shame on you!’: Hawaii resident slams investors she says are already calling distraught families offering to buy their scorched land while they pick over the ashes of their homes as death toll rises to 99 and hundreds more are still missing

A Hawaii resident has criticized investors, who she says are already calling families to buy their scorched land amid raging wildfires on the island.

The woman – who posted from an account with more than 85,000 followers on Instagram under the name kakoo_haleakala – shared a video yesterday describing the alleged events.

It comes as the death toll from the Maui wildfires has risen to 99, a number that is expected to rise further.

Hundreds of people have also been reported missing following the fires, with Governor Josh Green saying a full search is “probably going to take 10 days.”

Private electric companies have also faced criticism as some state officials say there is a shortage of water available to firefighters, blaming a recent ruling by an environmental court judge

While filming herself in the recent video, the Hawaii native said, “I’m so frustrated with investors and realtors calling the families that have lost their homes and offering to buy their land.”

“How dare you do that to our community. If you are a victim and they call you, ask their company name so we can expose them,” she added.

She claims in the clip that she “personally knows” “several families” who were “offered money from investors and brokers.”

The account she posted on translates from Hawaiian as “Support Haleakala,” referring to Haleakala, a large shield volcano, which is also known as East Maui Volcano.

Haleakala, meaning ‘house of the sun’, features a 30,183 acre National Park, which is very popular with tourists.

Her claims come as the death toll from the Maui wildfires now stands at 99, a figure likely to increase as search teams comb through neighborhoods where flames were moving at a mile per minute.

The fires that have destroyed most of the historic city of Lahaina are already the deadliest in the US in more than a century and the cause is under investigation.

Governor Josh Green said the search will take time and asked for space to get it right.

“For those people who walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they are very likely walking on iwi,” he said at a news conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for bones.

“They’re probably going to find 10 to 20 people a day, until they’re done,” Mr Green told CBS Mornings in a taped interview that aired Monday.

And it’s probably going to take 10 days. It’s actually impossible to guess.’

While mobile phone service has been slowly restored, the number of missing people fell from more than 2,000 to around 1,300, Mr Green said.

Fire and smoke fill the sky from wildfires at the intersection at Hokiokio Place and Lahaina Bypass in Maui, Hawaii on Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Twenty cadaver dogs and dozens of searchers make their way through blocks reduced to ash.

As of Monday, they had searched about 25% of the area, down from just 3% over the weekend, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.

Meanwhile, some state officials say there is a shortage of water available to firefighters, blaming a recent ruling by an environmental court judge.

It’s part of a long-running battle between environmentalists and private companies over the decades-long practice of diverting water from East Maui’s streams, which began during Hawaii’s sugar plantation past.

Mr Green said people are fighting for access to water to fight fires.

“We’re having a tough time on Maui and other rural areas getting enough water for homes, for our people, for any response,” he said.

While work continues to fully restore power, evacuees were expected to move into hotels.

“For those people who walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they are very likely walking on iwi,” Governor Josh Green (pictured) said at a press conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for bones

Mr Green said 500 hotel rooms will be made available for displaced local residents and another 500 rooms will be reserved for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees who are helping with the recovery.

In addition, FEMA has begun providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the costs of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, Administrator Deanne Criswell said.

The money is in addition to the amount for which residents are eligible to cover the loss of homes and personal property.

More than 3,000 people have applied for federal aid, according to FEMA, and that number is expected to grow.

As for the water supply, the deputy chief of the US fire department, Tonya Hoover, said she had no details about the island’s current water supply. She said the head of her service met with firefighters, including one who was seriously injured and taken to hospital.

Smoke billows down the slope of Haleakala Volcano on Maui, Hawaii, as a fire burns in the interior of Maui on Tuesday, August 8, 2023

The Biden administration is seeking $12 billion more for the administration’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

The fire that engulfed ancient Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the city of 13,000.

Even where the fire has receded, authorities have warned that toxic by-products may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames emit toxic fumes. And many people have no home to return to.

The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Among the visitors was Oprah Winfrey, who told Hawaii News Now that she delivered personal hygiene products, towels and water in recent days