The Governor of Hawaii says “without a doubt” the damage caused by the wildfires will take billions of dollars to repair.
The wildfires on the island of Maui have officially become the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century.
Questions around why alarm sirens were not sounded ahead of the fires and recovery in the aftermath are being asked in the wake of the devastation.
New video shows Maui residents who leaped into the water to flee the fires. A man can be seen clutching a child put in his arms by a stranger and they cling onto a piece of floating plywood.
“Kids as young as 5 we heard from, all the way to people in their seventies in the ocean for hours,” a resident says.
Many Maui residents are saying they did not receive any warning of the impending disaster until the last minute.
CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil spoke to Hawaii's governor.
"Sirens didn't go off and cell warnings, television warnings may not have gone though. Are you frustrated that there wasn't a better warning to alert residents to get out," Dokoupil asked.
"Of course," the governor said. "We are doing a comprehensive review already, my attorney general, I asked her to do it. Not to find fault in anyone but to say why this worked and this didn't work."
A young woman who fled the Lahaina fires took to TikTok to post a video titled "Our Devastation is Not Your Vacation" to tell would-be Maui vacationers not to go to the island.
Good Morning America’s Gio Benitez choked up while describing the resilience of Hawaiians.
“It’s incredible to see the spirit of Aloha play out in real time,” Benitez said. “I’m sorry I’m getting emotional.”
Dokoupil said he feels the same.
“I’ve learned above all that Hawiians rely on Hawaiians, and that will get them through,” Dokoupil said.
Dokoupil spoke to Oprah Winfrey outside of a shelter about what was happening inside.
“You would see people lined up, cots, cots, cots, right next to each other. You would see people with all of their worldly possessions in like you know, a small garbage bag,” Winfrey said.
Dokoupil told Inside Edition that Winfrey has gone into “aid mode.”
“She’s immediately gone into help mode, comfort mode, aid mode. And it was so important to her to take us to the people that have been telling her stories, she wanted us to hear what they’d been through and she wanted the world to hear,” Dokoupil said.
Rock legend Mick Fleetwood lost his Maui Restaurant. He was in Los Angeles visiting his family when the flames swept by. He flew back in a private plane he loaded with emergency supplies for displaced residents.
The Governor of Hawaii says “without a doubt” the damage caused by the wildfires will take billions of dollars to repair.
