Over 1,000 people are still missing after a fire burned through the town of Lahaina in Hawaii two weeks ago, according to officials.
Officials will soon release a list of the people who are missing so that they can better look for them.
Some search teams are looking through the debris and are only finding bones or small pieces of bodies. This makes the job hard.
Currently, 115 people have been confirmed to have died.
On August 8th, the fires devastated a large part of the old town of Lahaina on the island of Maui. These fires are now seen as the most severe natural disaster to ever happen in Hawaii.
At a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, FBI special agent Steven Merrill who is in charge of the search said: “We may not know everything about everyone in the end. ”
“We are looking at everyone on that list until we can show that they are not on that list. ”
About 1,400 out of the original 2,500 missing people have been located. However, officials have had a hard time determining the exact number of people who are missing.
“Every day, the numbers will be different,” Mr Merrill commented. The new guess for the number of missing people comes after Maui mayor Richard Bissen said it was around 850.
Officials don’t know how many of the over 1000 missing people are believed to be dead.
Groups of people with special dogs have been searching the area that was burned for dead bodies. The very hot fire has made things difficult because some search teams are only finding bones or small pieces of bodies in piles of ashes.
The authorities are asking family members to give their DNA to assist in identifying the victims.
According to Julie French from ANDE, a DNA analysis company, they have gathered at least 104 samples to make family trees or pedigrees.
The amount of money that the damage caused is believed to be around $6 billion or £4. 7 billion
Officials have revealed the names of the 13 people who lost their lives in the fire. These people include someone who loves music, kind grandmothers, and a motivating father.
Tag: Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen
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Hawaii wildfires: Over thousand people still missing
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Mayor releases death toll warning as searches within demolished buildings start
The current death toll “could go up” today, according to Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, when investigators begin searching the destroyed buildings.
talking to the Today Show on NBC
Bissen stated this morning that the 55 total fatalities to date were based on those who had been discovered outside.
He claimed that several of the destroyed residences and businesses were about to be entered by authorities.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was given permission by President Biden yesterday, was expected to assist Maui authorities.
According to Bissen, FEMA has the tools necessary to properly inspect the destroyed structures under “hazmat conditions.”