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Unsafe water advisory remains in effect for Lahaina and Upper Kula
Residents in the town of Lahaina and the largely rural area of Upper Kula have been advised that tap water remains unsafe and they should not drink or boil it.
The Department of Water Supply said an unsafe water notice remained out of an “abundance of caution” pending testing in those areas, in a statement issued by Maui County.
County officials earlier warned that harmful contaminants, including benzene and other volatile organic chemicals, may have entered the Lahaina water system, and that some water structures had been destroyed by fire.
Death toll climbs to 93
The death toll from the fires has increased to 93, Maui County said in statement Sunday. Two bodies have been identified, it said.
However, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green warned at a news conference Saturday that search and recovery operations were likely to turn up more remains in the fire-scorched communities in West Maui.
U.S. fire administrator: collective fires top modern 10 worst
The devastation resulting from a complex of fires on Maui that started Tuesday represents the deadliest U.S. fire in recent years, U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell said.
“This fire now has become the deadliest in the last 10 years,” she announced at a Saturday news conference convened by Gov. Josh Green.
The Maui complex of fires also represent the deadliest U.S. fire in the last 100 years. California’s Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 85, previously held that title.
Officials waned that the death troll would continue to climb as search and recovery teams planned to cover more ground in upcoming days.
No IDs yet for the dead, and police chief urges patience
Chief John Pelletier of the Maui Police Department on Saturday braced the public for more devastation in West Maui because the search, recovery, and identification process remains in its earliest stage.
At a news conference Saturday, he said no identities for the deceased have been completed in a process that can include rapid DNA testing, dental record comparisons, and informing family members.
“Every one of these 89 are John and Jane Does,” Pelletier said, adding that the death toll would increase and it was unclear where it will end up.
“None of us really knows the size of it yet,” Pelletier said. “You want it fast, or you want it right? We’re going to do it right.”
Governor says winds may have made fires unstoppable
Gov. Josh Green said Saturday that strong winds in Hawaii midweek may have made the fires on Maui unstoppable.
As questions grow regarding state and local officials’ initial responses to the nascent blazes Tuesday, the governor pointed to a culprit hard to tame in any circumstance: trade winds boosted by a high pressure system.
“The largest force in play that night were 80 mph winds,” Green said during a news conference on the fires and their aftermath. “Fortunately, now those winds have passed.”
Green suggested that the winds’ sudden and insurmountable force would have whipped hungry flames through West Maui regardless of the human reaction. “Having seen that storm, we have doubts that much could have been done with a fast-moving fire like that,” he added.
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