{"id":419582,"date":"2023-08-15T08:37:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T05:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/?p=419582"},"modified":"2023-08-15T08:37:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T05:37:16","slug":"number-of-dead-from-maui-wildfires-reaches-99-as-governor-warns-there-could-be-scores-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/number-of-dead-from-maui-wildfires-reaches-99-as-governor-warns-there-could-be-scores-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of dead from Maui wildfires reaches 99, as governor warns there could be scores more"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAHAINA, Hawaii (SONNA) \u2014 The number of deaths caused by the Maui wildfires stood at 99<\/span>\u00a0Monday, a figure that is likely to increase as search crews comb neighborhoods where flames moved as fast as a mile a minute.<\/p>\n

The blazes that consumed most of the\u00a0historic town of Lahaina<\/span>\u00a0are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The cause was under investigation.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Green said the search will take time and and asked for space to do it properly. \u201cFor those people who have walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they\u2019re very likely walking on iwi,\u201d he said at a news conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for \u201cbones.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As cellphone service has slowly been restored, the number of people missing dropped to about 1,300 from over 2,000, Green said.<\/p>\n

Twenty cadaver dogs and dozens of searchers are making their way through blocks reduced to ash. As of Monday, they had searched about 25% of the area, up from just 3% over the weekend, said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some state officials say there is a shortage of water available for firefighters, and they blame a recent ruling by an environmental court judge. It\u2019s part of a long-running battle between environmentalists and private companies over the decadeslong practice of diverting water from East Maui streams that started during Hawaii\u2019s sugar plantation past.<\/p>\n

Green said there are people fighting over access to water to fight fires. \u201cWe have a difficult time on Maui and other rural areas getting enough water for houses, for our people, for any response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Green said the attorney general\u2019s office is reviewing decisions related to the fires.<\/p>\n

Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc., Maui\u2019s power provider, will cooperate with the state and do its own investigation, President and CEO Shelee Kimura said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether the utility\u2019s equipment played any role in igniting the flames. Hawaiian Electric has faced criticism for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire.<\/p>\n

Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment. She also noted that shutting off power in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in places where this has been used, it is controversial and it\u2019s not universally accepted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Source: AP<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAHAINA, Hawaii (SONNA) \u2014 The number of deaths caused by the Maui wildfires stood at 99\u00a0Monday, a figure that is likely to increase as search crews comb neighborhoods where flames moved as fast as a mile a minute. The blazes that consumed most of the\u00a0historic town of Lahaina\u00a0are already the deadliest in the U.S. in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":419583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-419582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419584,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419582\/revisions\/419584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}