What we know about the wildfires in Hawaii

Like many other families this August, Krizhna Bayudan, 23, a Lāhainā resident, recalls her family of six sleeping in their cars wondering whether their house, where she has lived her entire life, burned down in the fires that decimated West Maui. They would later learn that it was completely destroyed, along with every other house in their neighborhood. Her family relocated at least five times within the first few weeks before being placed at a hotel-condominium in Kāʻanapali. “It’s so nice to just see people we used to see ... and knowing that they’re okay,” Bayudan said, describing walking the hotel’s hall, which has become a collective space for many other displaced families.

Just one month after the deadliest wildfires in US history ravaged West Maui — killing at least 97 people, displacing thousands, and incinerating the historic town of Lāhainā — Hawaii’s governor announced that the island would fully reopen to tourism. Beginning October 8, travel restrictions will be lifted and visitors will be welcome to resume their vacations.

MAUI, Hawai‘i — When Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green held a press conference on Wednesday, he revealed the state government’s focus on procuring federal resources, securing housing, preventing land grab profiteering in affected areas on Maui, and coordinating agencies operating in response to the catastrophe. Nearly 2,500 housing units, including hotel rooms and Airbnbs, have been secured for displaced people, and the death toll has surpassed 110 with more than half of Lāhainā yet to be searched.

That was the hard news of it, the nuance of the event was equally important.

President Joe Biden’s disaster declaration came within hours of the wildfires that tore through Lāhainā, Maui, last week, where the death toll is at least 111 and a thousand people may still be missing. The disaster declaration helped unlock federal aid for Maui, adding to Hawaii’s emergency stores another 50,000 meals, 10,000 blankets, and $700 cash for survivors in the immediate aftermath.

But questions around the response at every level of government continue to mount. Many of the disaster’s survivors have said the assistance was slow to arrive, wondering days later why distribution centers were so disorderly, and missing persons numbers still so high.

The search for survivors is far from over, yet it’s already clear: The Maui fires are the nation’s deadliest wildfire event in more than a century. The blazes burned thousands of acres and killed at least 114 people — a greater death toll than any wildfire in California, where summer blazes are common. Hundreds remain missing on Maui, and the number of fatalities is expected to rise.

“This is the largest natural disaster in our history,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said, referring to Hawaii, in a statement on August 13. “It is a harrowing sight in Maui.”