New video shows Lahaina residents bobbing in choppy ocean after jumping into water to escape Maui fire that killed 55 and counting
- The fire on Tuesday spreads through Lahaina ferociously, torching almost every building in its path
- Terrified residents ran towards the harbor and jumped into the ocean to survive
- Coast Guard rescued 50 people from the water; 55 died in total and 1,000 remain unaccounted for
Horrifying new footage has emerged of dozens of Hawaiians flailing in the choppy water after jumping in to avoid the catastrophic wildfire that torched the town of Lahaina earlier this week.
The fire began on Tuesday, spreading quickly and ferociously. The exact cause of it remains unclear but high winds, dry conditions and low humidity exacerbated the flames.
Fifty-five people have been confirmed dead already and 1,000 remain missing three days on from the blaze.
In an interview this morning, the Mayor of Maui County said the bodies found so far have all been discovered in the street, outside properties. Search teams have not yet begun pulling bodies from homes and businesses.
An unknown number of people are also thought to have perished in their cars while trying to escape the hellish flames.
‘I think that number could go up. According to those doing the recovery – our police, Coast Guard and National Guard, that was the number they found of people outside of the buildings. We have not yet searched the interior of the buildings. We’re waiting for FEMA to help with that search.
‘They are equipped to handle the hazmat conditions of the buildings that have been burned,’ Mayor Richard Bissen told the TODAY show.
A group of desperate Lahaina residents cling to a piece of plywood in the ocean on Tuesday after jumping into the water to escape the hellish flames that have so far killed 55 people
A woman clings desperately onto the sea wall as others struggle against the current. A man with a backpack struggles against the choppy ocean waves
#mauifire people running for the lives and jumpingnin ocean!!! Lahaina
The West side of the island remains without power, water and communications.
‘They have no internet, no cell phone. That’s the challenge. We’ve been sending crews out with water….but our focus is on finding any missing persons. We want to give people information.’
Mayor Bissen added that he ‘couldn’t say’ whether the warning system had worked efficiently.
‘This was an impossible situation. The winds that hit us on that side of the island, the gusts were up to 80mph. Some sustained up to 45 and 60 mph. Everything happened so quickly.
‘I can’t comment on whether or not the sirens sounded or not but the fires came up so quickly and spread so fast. ‘
The footage shows desperate residents of Lahaina, one of the oldest, most historic towns on Maui, clinging on to the ocean wall for their life as brutal winds lashed them with sea water and embers from the fires flew overhead.
Some gathered together to cling on to a large piece of plyboard.
They were forced to wait in the ocean, bobbing helplessly, until they were rescued by the Coast Guard. In total, 50 people were rescued from the ocean in Lahaina.
As devastating new images and videos of the immediate aftermath of the fire continue to emerge, the families of those still unaccounted for are pleading for help.
Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Floyd Mayweather meanwhile are assisting at local shelters.
Oprah was spotted handing out diapers, pillows, sheets and toiletries from Costco.
‘It’s overwhelming… but I’m really pleased to have so many people supporting… bringing what they can and doing what they can.’
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen says he anticipates the death toll to rise as search teams begin pulling bodies from the interior of buildings
Hawaii’s ‘unprecedented’ wildfires razed a historic town and killed dozens of people after a hurricane hundreds of miles from the islands combined with dry conditions
Oprah Winfrey hands out supplies at a shelter in Maui on Thursday. The billionaire owns 2,000 acres of land on Maui
Oprah said she was ‘overwhelmed’ but eager to help. She has been criticized by some locals for buying up huge swathes of land on the island
‘I came earlier just to see what people needed then went shopping because often, you know, you make donations of clothes or whatever and it’s not really what people need. So I actually went to Walmart and Costco and got pillows, shampoo, diapers, sheets, pillowcases.’
Among those missing is Timm ‘TK’ Williams Sr., a disabled veteran who told his family he had escaped the fire and was on his way to a shelter on Wednesday.
His relatives told CNN: ‘He was attempting to make it to a shelter, but all of the roads were blocked. He would not be able to run or move quickly if needed to.’
On Thursday evening, Governor Josh Green said that all communications with the western part of Maui remained down, and that the emergency services were only able to communicate using satellite phones.
Talley said they were desperately hoping he made it to a shelter, and was simply unable to let them know he was safe. But, she added, they were fearing the worst.
‘It has been difficult,’ she said. ‘Every minute that goes by, is another minute that he could be hurt (or) in danger.’
The ruins of Lahaina are seen on Thursday after a wildfire ravaged the historic town
A man surveys the damage and films the devastation on his phone on Thursday
Smoke from the fires rises above Lahaina on Thursday
People can be seen on Thursday wandering the ruins of Lahaina, which was devastated in wildfires overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday
Asked on Thursday evening for the number of dead, Green said: ‘Honestly, we don’t know. And here’s the challenge: there’s no power, no internet, no phone, no radio. You compound some of that. So when we’re speaking to our officers, we need them to get a sat phone. There’s around 1,000 missing.
‘It doesn’t mean that many have passed – I’m not saying that at all – but because we can’t contact them we can’t know.’
Green said that cadaver dogs were being brought in from California and Washington to assist the search.
‘We have a family assistance center set up, so anyone missing anyone at all, people can go there and give their details,’ he said.
‘If we can reunify people we will, and give notifications if we need to.’
Green said the destruction in the historic town of Lahaina, which was largely razed to the ground, was barely believable.
Hawaii is experiencing a drought, which provided ample fuel for the blaze: tailwinds from Hurricane Dora created gusts of up to 60mph, meaning there was little warning for many as the fire roared up to their doors.
‘It’s a heartbreaking day, without a doubt,’ said Green.
‘What we have seen today is catastrophic.
‘All of us will have a loved one here on Maui that lost a house, that lost a friend. ‘
Green urged those living on Maui and other islands to open their doors to take in those who had lost their homes, asking hotels to also assist in providing 2,000 rooms.
‘If you have additional space, if you have capacity to take someone in, please do,’ said Green.
‘Please take these people into your lives.’
He said that the recovery process would be long, slow and painful, but thanked the federal agencies for their swift response. He said the damage would be in the billions, but it was too soon to worry about buildings when people were still missing.
‘It will be in the billions of dollars, without a doubt,’ he said.
‘But first we have to focus on lives lost. It will take time. Many years to rebuild Lahaina.
‘When you see the full extent it will shock you.’
Green said the devastation, pictured on Thursday, was the worst in Hawaii’s state history
An aerial image of Lahaina, taken on Thursday. People fled to the sea and were drowned
Charred wreckage from a home in Lahaina is seen on Wednesday
Downed power cables made evacuations perilous, officials said
An eerie image from Thursday shows the smoldering ruins of the town of Lahaina
A boat is left adrift with the port and dock destroyed in Lahaina
He described the devastation as unprecedented, saying Hawaii had not experienced anything like it since it became the 50th state in 1959.
‘We’ve never experienced a wildfire that affected a city before. We have had wildfires, but not in urban space. I think we’re seeing this for the first time in many different parts of the world.’
He said it was what happens when ‘global warming combines with drought.’
John Pelletier, chief of Maui police, said his officers were not equipped to go building-to-building in an unsafe environment searching for bodies, and stressed the job needed to be done sensitively.
‘We don’t normally go into buildings and pull out bodies. We need to do it slow and methodical, so we respect everything and bring people to the resting place the right way.’
Pressed on the death toll, he said: ‘It’s 53, it is rising. I don’t know what the final number will be.
‘It’s incredible. And it’s going to be devastating.’
Pelletier said the community was coming together, describing them as ‘Maui Strong’.
‘We have a scar on the face of Maui that will be here for a very long time. We know scars heal, but they always remain. We need patience, prayers, and perseverance.’
Jeff Hickman, the public affairs director for the Hawaii Department of Defense, said there were 30 burns victims, three of them seriously injured.
‘We’re going to have to go building by building, block by block, trying to find bodies,’ he said.
Then there will be an initial clean up, and then residents will be allowed to return.
‘It’s going to be a long process.’
He said they were trying to ‘get the visitors out and take care of the residents.’
Burnt-out cars are seen on Wednesday in Lahaina
Destroyed sections of Lahaina are pictured on Wednesday
A man walks through the smoldering ruins of Lahaina on Wednesday
Burnt out cars are seen after the fires ravaged parts of Maui
The cause of the wildfire remains unknown.
The National Weather Service said dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity fueled them.
Green said it was likely to prove a worse natural disaster than the tsunami of May 1960, sparked by an earthquake in Chile.
That tragedy left 61 people dead.
Hawaii is not immune to wildfires: in 2018, a total of 30,000 acres burnt, with flames fanned by Hurricane Lane.
This time, strong winds were caused by Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the islands.
Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science – but this year’s fires are burning faster and bigger than usual.
A Hawaii Army National Guard member looks out the window as a CH47 Chinook performs an aerial water bucket drop on the Island of Maui on Wednesday
People watch the wildfires ripping through Lahaina on Tuesday
Much of Lahaina has been burnt to the ground in the fires that blazed overnight on Tuesday
The fire spread quickly through tinderbox-dry grass and rapidly engulfed the wooden houses of Lahaina
Locals are seen walking through Lahaina on Wednesday, the morning after the fire
People gather while waiting for flights at the Kahului Airport on Wednesday
Crowds of people wait to board their flight from Kahului Airport on Wednesday
Smoke billows near Lahaina as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina
Though at least 16 roads were closed, the airport was operating fully, he said.
Most of the roughly 400 evacuees at the War Memorial shelter on Thursday morning had arrived in shock, with an ’empty look,’ said Dr. Gerald Tariao Montano, a pediatrician who volunteered to work a six-hour shift on Wednesday night.
‘Some haven’t fully grasped that they lost everything,’ he said.
He pleaded for donations of clothes, supplies, food, baby formula and diapers.
The fate of some of Lahaina’s cultural treasures remains unclear.
The historic 60-foot-tall banyan tree marking the spot where Hawaiian King Kamehameha III’s 19th-century palace stood was still standing, though some of its boughs appeared charred, according to a Reuters witness.
Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, allowing affected individuals and business owners to apply for federal housing and economic recovery grants, the White House said in a statement.
The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on on Tuesday
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