According to the latest report from the American authorities yesterday, the forest fires in Hawaii, aggravated by violent winds of up to 130 km / h, caused 114 deaths. But this figure is unfortunately destined to increase, because only part of the burnt area could be excavated.
The flames reduced the seaside town of Lahaina of 13.000 people to ashes, swallowing everything in their path. Their heat was so strong that the bodies found are difficult to identify, said John Pelletier, chief of police for the island of Maui. So far, only a few have been able to. The fire "even melted the metal," said the police chief, calling on relatives of missing persons to submit to a DNA test to help identify the victims. The circumstances of these dazzling fires, the cause of which is not yet known, remain unclear. No alert was issued before the flames reached the town of Lahaina. The powerful sirens, used in particular for tsunamis, remained silent. It is not known to date whether it was a technical failure or a decision of the operators. Official television and radio alerts were out of reach for residents without electricity. Without a network, telephones proved useless for transmitting information. According to residents, the warning usually sent in the event of a weather danger or an abduction alert did not sound on their devices. An investigation has been opened by the Attorney General into the circumstances of the fire and the decisions taken by the authorities. On site, 2.207 buildings, mostly residential, were destroyed or damaged according to the federal agency responsible for responding to natural disasters. For the Lahaina fire alone, the cost of reconstruction is estimated at $5,52 billion. The reconstruction will probably take years according to Mazie Hirono, a Democratic senator from the archipelago. This Saturday, August 12, France presented its condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of the terrible fire which ravaged the island of Maui, in the American archipelago of Hawaii "as well as all its solidarity with Governor Josh Green and the inhabitants of the island where the evacuations continue,” the Foreign Ministry said. Joe Biden, President of the United States who declared a state of natural disaster in Hawaii, which made it possible to deploy emergency assistance from the federal state, was to go to the archipelago devastated by the flames this Monday August 21. _VX
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