August 12, 2023 Maui wildfire news

Around 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the fires in Maui, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a news conference Saturday.  

"If you look at what's been seen now in West Maui, 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged. Eighty-six percent are residential," Green said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier on Saturday disputed a $5.52 billion damage assessment figure that was previously attributed to the Pacific Disaster Center and FEMA, calling it inaccurate and saying it was premature to assign even an approximate dollar amount to the damage done on Maui.

The Maui wildfires are the "largest natural disaster Hawaii has ever experienced," Hawaii Governor Josh Green said at a conference late Saturday.

Green's comment came as the official death toll rose to 89, with the governor warning that number was expected to increase.

That toll means the wildfires are officially Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster in state history, surpassing the 61 confirmed deaths from a tsunami in Hilo in 1960.

However, before Hawaii became a state in 1959, in 1946 the islands experienced a devastating tsunami that killed 158 people.

Green also gave several updates about rescue and relief efforts as well as "heartbreaking realities" on the ground.

He said it was a challenge to get people into hotel rooms that had enough electricity.

"We don't want to be moving people from a place which does have power, working bathrooms... to places which don't," he said.

Around 1,000 hotel rooms had been secured for evacuees and first responders, he added, and long term housing solutions were being sought.

"The scope of transfer was extraordinary," Green added. "Almost 15,000 passengers per day were flown out. It makes our recovery work quite a lot easier and most have left the region. We still have people staying at the airport or making decisions about when they are ready to go. A lot of people are traumatized and traumatized at what they see others are going through."

The death toll from the Maui wildfires is now at 89, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a news conference Saturday.   

Green said the death toll is expected to increase.  

The Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) will set aside a runway at Kahului Airport, the primary airport on the island of Maui, to accommodate incoming relief supplies, official announced Saturday.

The closure will not affect commercial flights, the DOT said.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Runway 5/23 is 4,980 feet long and is primarily used by private aircraft.

Kahului is the only airport in Maui equipped to receive flights directly from the US mainland, according to the state government.

Thousands of travelers have been left stranded at the airport in the aftermath of the fires. Hawaiian government officials as well as aviation officials have been discouraging travel to Maui as rescue and relief efforts continue.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke says the state does not intend to intervene in traffic problems building up around Lahaina. Instead, Maui County officials will make those calls to protect public safety.

With the main highway going into Lahaina being opened and closed repeatedly with little warning, residents have voiced frustrations with trying to return to their homes and businesses.

Residents told CNN they were trying to bring in relief supplies, a process hampered by the limited traffic access.

Luke declined to weigh in on the debate over whether the state was sufficiently prepared for the disaster. "All the assessments and investigation will happen but really the priority is to make sure that people are fed and people have a place to stay," she said.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said more deaths are likely after areas of Maui were ravaged by wildfires this week.

"The County of Maui is still doing its assessment, and our fear is that the death toll will continue to climb," she told CNN.

There have been at least 80 deaths so far, officials said on Friday.

Luke was also asked about criticism on the emergency response. The state's integrated outdoor siren warning system was not activated during the fires, according to Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency. Emergency communications with residents were largely limited to mobile phones and broadcasters at a time when most power and cell service was already cut.

"I think it's our responsibility to do an assessment and to figure out if there are certain things that could be avoided, how do we protect our citizens, how do we protect individuals who are on our islands. That's why I think the governor has called for an investigation by our attorney general's office to have a deep investigation of the Maui County initial response and also the entire response initially," she said.  

Luke said the review will look at the county, state and federal response, but the focus right now is on helping victims of the fires.

At least 80 people have died in this week's unprecedented wildfires in Hawaii, officials said Friday.

The fire in Maui's western community of Lahaina is 85% contained, according to the county. Southeast of Lahaina, near Kihei, the Pulehu fire is 80% contained, the county said, and the blaze burning in the central Upcountry area is 50% contained.

A photographer who documented the ongoing efforts by firefighters in Maui described an intense environment: Tree roots are burning under the ground, he told CNN.

Here's what else you should know:

Back-and-forth road closures: There have been several closings and re-openings of the primary route into Lahaina, Honoapi'ilani Highway, since yesterday. This morning, there were scores of people sleeping in their cars, waiting for the highway to reopen in a line of vehicles that stretched about a mile. After it was initially reopened to traffic early Friday, officials say the road was closed “due to individuals who went over barricades and closed-off areas and entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes.” A restaurant owner from Lahaina said displaced residents "don't have anywhere to go," and that the highway is the only road in and out of the historic town.

Assessing the response: Hawaii has a robust emergency siren warning system, but it sat silent during the deadly wildfires, according to state officials. Hawaii's attorney general will lead a review of the emergency response to the fires, including the lack of sirens. Some residents who spoke to CNN this week said they feel like the state didn't do enough to warn them when the flames erupted, while others have said it was an impossible situation for authorities, and that residents associate the sirens with tsunamis, not wildfires.

Recovery efforts: More than a dozen federal agencies have been sent to Hawaii to assist in the recovery efforts, including FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Guard. The US Army Corps of Engineers deployed teams to help manage debris, set up temporary emergency power and consult officials on the recovery, a spokesperson told CNN. Tourism authorities say they're focused on helping visitors get out of Maui, so “attention and resources” can be focused on residents. The American Red Cross has also been active on the islands.

How to help: CNN Impact Your World is raising money to support relief efforts in Maui. Click here to help, or if you're looking to donate elsewhere, here's how to know your donation is going to a legitimate charity.

Family members of Mike Cicchino believed he was going to die after he called them to say goodbye while fighting for his life in the Maui wildfires this week. He has since been reunited with his loved ones after a night he says was “something out of a disaster movie.”

After seeing the flames on Tuesday, the Lahaina resident and his wife grabbed five dogs they were taking care of and followed traffic heading south until they were trapped by closed roads.

“People were running for their lives in all directions because nobody knew where to go,” Cicchino told CNN. “We were surrounded by fire.”

During that time, Cicchino believed they were going to die, so he called his mom for a final goodbye.

Moments after that call, phone service dropped, and Cicchino lost all contact for several hours.

Meanwhile, his mom, Susan Ramos, had immediately called the US Coast Guard to alert them of the fire and her son’s location. 

While waiting on his own rescue, Cicchino was shepherding others to safety as his home of 16 years was consumed by fire. 

“I remember jumping the seawall and putting our shirts into the water to wrap around our faces and protect us from the smoke. Out in the ocean we kept getting hit by the embers, so we would hide underwater,” Cicchino said.

Nearly 60 other people were down in the water, filled with panic as they heard cars exploding nearby. 

Despite his eyes being nearly swollen shut by smoke, Cicchino left his wife in a safe space to go look for the dogs that got separated from them along the way. 

As Cicchino was moving people to safety by rocks right off the water, the Coast Guard contacted him asking for a headcount for life vests.

The Coast Guard boat couldn’t make it past a reef, leaving two members with surfboards to attempt the rescue of dozens, including children, the elderly and the injured.

The group panicked at the thought of having to go one by one and risk being separated from their loved ones. Eventually, firefighters made it to the scene, with Cicchino leading people 10 at a time to their rescue. 

On the last trip, Cicchino, his wife and two of the dogs settled in the bed of an emergency vehicle as firefighters sped off to a local triage center. 

Cicchino was hooked up to oxygen and was coughing up soot from smoke inhalation.

As things calmed down, he was able to get back in touch with his mom. They cried together on the phone. “All this time my mom thought I was dead,” Cicchino said.

He was reunited with his family at a nearby shelter just a few hours later. “I ran toward my mom and broke down as she hugged me,” he said.

Cicchino said he still has friends who are missing and that so far, four of the five dogs he evacuated with have been reunited with their owners. 

Residents of the wildfire-scorched community of Lahaina on Maui were met mostly with frustration Saturday as they tried to return to their homes and businesses. The main highway going into town has been opened and closed repeatedly with little warning.

Steven and Giulietta Daiker said they were nearly up to the main checkpoint after hours of waiting when they learned they were only going to be turned around. “They couldn't have told us that three miles back, or couldn't have been on a bullhorn or on the radio?” Steven asked. “This is just pathetic."

Authorities have cited “individuals who went over barricades and closed-off areas and entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes” in closing the roadway after initially reopening it.

Residents told CNN they are not only trying to see what is left of their community but also bringing in whatever relief supplies they can — a process hampered by lack of access.

This time-lapse shows the long line of vehicles waiting to get into Lahaina on the Honoapi’ilani Highway on Saturday: