Hawaii Governor Josh Green says 53 people were killed in the devastating Maui wildfires, and the death toll will likely continue to rise.
A search of the wildfire devastation on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of obliterated neighbourhoods and landmarks charred beyond recognition.
A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighbourhoods that had been a vibrant vision of colour and island life reduced to grey ash.
Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago.
Boats in the harbour were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.
“Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Mr Green told The Associated Press.
More than 1,000 structures were destroyed by fires that were still burning, he said.
The death toll will likely rise as search and rescue operations continue, Mr Green added, and officials expect it will become the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1961 tsunami killed 61 people on the Big Island.
“We are heartsick,” he said.
Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started on Tuesday and took Maui by surprise, racing through parched growth covering the island and then feasting on homes and anything else that lay in its path.
The official death toll of 53 as of Thursday makes this the deadliest US wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise.
The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been inaccessible due to the three ongoing fires, including the one in Lahaina that was 80% contained on Thursday, according to a Maui County news release.
More than 270 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and dozens of people have been injured, including some critically.
“We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,” said Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Search and rescue teams still will not be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they are sure they will be able to get to those areas safely, Mr Weintraub added.
Communications have been spotty on the island, with 911, landline and cellular service failing at times. Power was also out in parts of Maui.
Tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 flew out of Maui on Wednesday with at least 1,500 more expected to leave on Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, state transportation director.
Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in the thousands who have been displaced.
The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora passing far to the south.
It is the latest in a series of disasters caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events.
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster on Maui. Traveling in Utah on Thursday, he pledged that the federal response will ensure that “anyone who’s lost a loved one, or whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately”.
Mr Biden promised to streamline requests for assistance and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “surging emergency personnel” on the island.
