Originally published August 21, 2023 8:00 pm PDT
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said that it is “possible that there will be many children” declared missing.
QUICK FACTS:
- Host of CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Margaret Brennan asked Hawaii Governor Josh Green (D) how many people are unaccounted for from the devastating Maui fire and “how long will it take to identify remains?”
- “More than 1,000 are unaccounted for, about 1,050. It will take several weeks still,” Green responded.
- “Some of the challenges are going to be extraordinary. As you reported, 85 percent of the land of the impact zone has been covered now by what amounts to an army of search and rescue teams and 41 dogs. So, 85 percent of the land has been covered,” Green explained.
- “A local Maui official said a large number of the dead may have actually been children who were left at home that day because schools were closed, many of them alone or with their grandparents,” the reporter said, prompting Green to provide more information.
- “Here internally, that is possible that there will be many children,” Green said.
- It is estimated that 1 in 4 children will be declared missing from the Lahaina fire.
- Out of the more than 3,000 students in the Lahaina area, 400 students are enrolled in other public schools and another 200 students are now involved in distance learning.
- Alex Fielder, CEO of Privateer, a company bringing power and Wi-Fi to affected areas, told Fox that he “can’t imagine what roll call looks like,” noting that “one in every four is likely not going to be there in those classes, in those neighborhoods.”
SEARCHING CONTINUES:
- The official death toll of 114 is expected to rise as the search continues.
- The next part of the search will be to “go into the larger buildings, which require peeling back some of the floors and structures,” Green stated.
- “That last 15 percent could take weeks. We do have extreme concerns that, because of the temperature of the fire, the remains of those who have died, in some cases, may be impossible to recover meaningfully.”
- “We will rebuild Lahaina. It will take years of work and billions of dollars, but we are committed to this effort and together we will meet this challenge,” Green said.
- About 470 search-and-rescue workers and 41 cadaver dogs are working to find remains.
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that Deputy Director of Hawaii’s Commission on Water Resource Management M. Kaleo Manuel delayed responding to a request to divert stream water to fill reservoirs for firefighting.
- Five hours passed between the time the West Maui Land Company sent the request for water and received a response.
- By that time, “We were unable to reach the siphon release to make the adjustments that would have allowed more water to fill our reservoirs,” reads a letter from the company to Manuel.
- The letter stated, “We watched the devastation unfold around us without the ability to help. We anxiously awaited the morning knowing that we could have made more water available to MFD if our request had been immediately approved.”
