FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said that the state of Hawaii faced a long-term recovery operation after wildfires on Maui killed at least 99 people
Fueled by winds gusting up to 80 mph , an inferno burning at temperatures that the governor said reached 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit raced from the dry grasslands outside town into the historic resort town of Lahaina last Tuesday, turning block after block into ash.
"It's not just ash on your clothing when you take it off. It's our loved ones," Pelletier said, relating the instructions that a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave rescue workers in a briefing. Help is arriving for those left homeless. Nearly 2,000 housing units, including 400 hotel rooms, 1,400 Airbnb units and 160 private homes were being made available, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told the news conference.
Meanwhile, the search for missing loved ones persisted. Officials declined to estimate how many remained unaccounted for but promised they were meticulously verifying the status of all. The American Red Cross had received over 2,500 calls from people trying to find and reunite with relatives and friends missing from the fire, and about 800 of those have been resolved, said Chris Young, senior director for operations and readiness.has not been determined, and many survivors have said they went unwarned before the inferno rapidly swept through town. Some people were forced to flee into the Pacific Ocean to escape the flames.
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