we lost internet. communications became extremely difficult. people need to take all of those facts into consideration, that we could not have anticipated dealing with all of these adversarial challenges, and today, i flew over lahaina. i was in a helicopter, with our fire chief, brad ventura, and the site is unbearable. barely bearable. it is heartbreaking to see the desolation. and one of the things that stuck in my mind was passing over some of the leveled homes, and yet people were parked near their homes, just crying, because in disbelief that this could happen , so swiftly, and so completely,
warnings, but first our team standing by in maui. tom llamas leads off our coverage tonight and joining us with breaking news. reporter: lester, we just learned maui and hawaii emergency management did not sound off those sirens, which could have let residents know danger was approaching. alerts did go out via phones and on broadcast tv and radio, but we just got back from flying over lahaina, and i can tell you, once that fire hit, there was almost no escape. tonight, the return to lahaina, residents allowed back in, and we saw from the skies above the shock that awaits them. even at 400 feet in the air, you can still smell the smoke days later, and you look down, and you can t make out what you re seeing. it looks to be a town that once existed, but nearly every building, every house, every car scorched completely