Survivors have been contending with intermittent power and unreliable cell service as they seek help rebuilding their lives.
Public schools on Maui started the process of reopening and traffic resumed on a major road in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed at least 110 people, while the head of the island's emergency agency said he had "no regret" that sirens weren't sounded to warn people about the onrushing flames.
At a news conference, Herman Andaya, Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator, defended not sounding the sirens during the fire. "We were afraid that people would have gone mauka," he said, using the Hawaiian directional term that can mean toward the mountains or inland. "If that was the case then they would have gone into the fire."There are no sirens in the mountains, where the fire was spreading downhill.
"Did mistakes happen? Absolutely," the governor said, later adding: "You can look here to see who you can trust," referring to the police, fire, emergency and Red Cross officials standing behind him. The 79-year-old was blind in one eye, partially blind in the other and used a walker or an electric scooter to get around. In recent weeks he also had swollen feet.
"I think people were assuming it was just another brushfire," she said. "I don’t think people realized, and they were not warned."On Tuesday, the county released the names of two victims: Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79. They were the first of five who have been identified.
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