Hawaiian authorities worked diligently on Tuesday to identify 99 confirmed victims of the horrific Maui wildfires amid warnings that the death toll is likely to double as search efforts continue.
Officials are expected to release the identities of several more victims today.
Currently, only three people have been formally identified and work has been hampered because many of the remains have been so badly burned.
The grim developments come as more footage emerges of locals’ desperate attempts to flee the bushfires that raged out of control a week ago.
A video captured by a resident of Lahaina, the historic city devastated by the fires, shows a large group of people clinging to the shoreline as they are engulfed in a cloud of ash, cinders and smoke.
Denny Yuckert, the man who filmed the video, said the group huddled for several hours and nearly suffocated in the smoke.
Dozens of people clung to the shoreline in Lahaina as wildfires swept through the city last week
A small number of active duty U.S. Marines joined the effort to help Maui recover amid criticism of the response, which residents have described as slow and inadequate.
Crews from Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 153 flew active duty members from Oahu to Maui on Monday to establish a command and control element that will coordinate further U.S. military support.
The Hawaii National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are already on the scene, but a larger U.S. active duty force would need a formal request from Hawaii to begin operations there. The creation of a cell could be a signal that a broader Defense Department effort is about to begin.
On Monday, Pentagon spokesman Brig. General Pat Ryder said the army wants to help but not deploy personnel without coordination so as not to create further logistical problems for the recovery effort.
Many who survived have begun moving into hundreds of hotel rooms reserved for displaced local residents.
Search teams had covered about 25 percent of the search area, Maui police chief John Pelletier said Monday. That is an increase of only three percent on Saturday.
Governor Josh Green previously said he expects “10 to 20” bodies to be recovered daily in an operation expected to last about ten days. On Sunday, about 1,300 remained missing, he said.
The fire that engulfed ancient Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the city of 13,000.
About 86 percent of the approximately 2,200 buildings destroyed were residences, and the value of destroyed properties is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Franklin “Frankie” Trejos, 68, died trying to shelter Sam, a golden retriever. Both were found dead in a car
Clyde Wakida is pictured with his wife of 46 years, Penny. He died trying to save the house they built together 35 years ago
Carole Hartley, 60, of Alabama, was one of the first wildfire victims to be identified
The governor asked for patience and space to properly conduct the search as authorities were inundated with requests to visit the fire area.
“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.
According to the province, the fire is 85% under control. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire is 65% contained.
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. As a result, hundreds were unable to return home.
The Red Cross said Monday 575 evacuees were scattered across five shelters, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Green said thousands of people will need housing for at least 36 weeks.
More than 3,000 people have applied for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to grow.
“We’re not taking anything off the table and we’re going to be very creative in how we use our authorities to build communities and help people find a place to stay for the longer term,” said agency administrator Deanne Criswell.
FEMA has begun providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the costs of food, water, first aid and medical supplies. The money is in addition to the amount for which residents are eligible to cover the loss of homes and personal property.
Survivors gathered for a Sunday church service at the Maui Coffee Attic in Wailuku, Maui. The Grace Baptist Church burned down in the wildfire
A man holding a young child prayed with the crowd Sunday morning as aid continued to pour in from surrounding communities
The Biden administration is seeking $12 billion more for the administration’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.
Meanwhile, the local power company has faced criticism for failing to cut power as strong winds pounded a parched area at high risk of fire. It’s not clear if the utility’s equipment played a role in igniting the flames.
Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. will cooperate with the state’s investigation and conduct its own investigation as well, said president and CEO Shelee Kimura.
Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment. She also noted that turning off the power in the fire area would have turned off the water pumps.
“Even in places where this has been used, it’s controversial and not widely accepted,” she said.
Fueled by dry grass and propelled by strong winds from a passing hurricane, the flames on Maui raged at speeds of up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an area every minute, according to Green.
As firefighters battled the flames last week, a spate of lawsuits were filed over access to water.
Some state officials say there isn’t enough water available for firefighters in central Maui, blaming a recent environmental judge ruling. The ruling had no direct impact on Lahaina’s water supply, the attorney general’s office said Monday.
On Wednesday morning, Judge Jeffrey Crabtree issued an order temporarily suspending the water caps he ordered for 48 hours. The judge also authorized water distribution as requested by the Maui, county or state fire department until further notice if he could not be reached.
Also killed were Faaso and Malui’s adult daughter Salote Takafua and her son Tony
Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone were found dead in their car on Thursday as they tried to escape the devastating blaze that devastated much of Lahaina.
But that wasn’t enough for the attorney general’s office, which later petitioned the state Supreme Court blaming Crabtree for a lack of water for firefighting. The state asked the court not to let Crabtree change the amount of water to be diverted or suspend its restrictions until the petition is resolved.
It’s part of a long-running battle between environmentalists and private companies over the decades-long practice of diverting water from streams that began during Hawaii’s sugar plantation past.
There was anger in Lahaina Tuesday when residents said they had been approached by investors seeking to buy up land burned in the fires. The governor also stepped in to criticize the attempts, saying he would try to block them.
Green’s office said “residents are being approached about the sale of fire-damaged homes, by people posing as real estate agents and possibly with bad intentions.”
“I have reached out to the Attorney General to explore the possibilities of placing a moratorium on the sale of property that has been damaged or destroyed,” he said.
‘Moreover, I would like to warn people that it will be a very long time before growth or housing can be built. And so you’d be pretty misinformed if you tried to steal land from our people and build here.”