Saying, quote the fires began on tuesday and are now about 80 contained. The blazes spread quickly, fuelled by strong winds generated by a hurricane over the pacific ocean. Thousands are still in emergency shelters. Visitors are being evacuated from the island. These are the latest pictures we Have Smouldering Ruins and total devastation. The worst destruction has been on the island of maui, where some beachfront areas have been completely levelled. Us President Joe Biden has now declared the wildfires a major disaster. This triggers the release of federal funds to help Recovery Efforts. He spoke earlier. We have just approved a major disaster declaration for hawaii, which will get aid into the hands of people who desperately need the help now. Theyve lost, anyone who has lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately. And ive directed that we send support to these brave firefighters and First Responders and Emergency Personnel working arou
There will be active recovery over the coming days and we of the bones of those who have been lost. So it will take time. To give perspective, it is going to take many years to rebuild lahaina. When you see the full extent of the destruction of lahaina it will shock you. It does appear like a bomb and fire went off, if i may. And all of those buildings, virtually, are going to have to be rebuilt. It will be a new lahaina. Lets recap the latest details from hawaii. At least 53 people are now known to have died in the fires, though weve heard the governor say that number will rise. Billions of dollars of property are also expected to be destroyed. Governor green says as many as 1,700 buildings have been destroyed and 11,000 people are still without power or water in west maui. The fires began on tuesday and Officials Say none of these fires are 100 contained. The blazes spread quickly, fuelled by strong winds generated by a hurricane over the pacific ocean. Thousands are still in emergen
Those who have been displaced select wasnt of some of the governor had to say. Its select wasnt of some of the governor had to say. Governor had to say. Its a heartbreaking governor had to say. Its a heartbreaking day, governor had to say. Its a | heartbreaking day, without governor had to say. Its a i heartbreaking day, without a doubt. What we think that has been catastrophic but we tell you there is going to be a team effort to bring our state back. What we saw was the utter devastation of lahaina. We walked from end to end today as a team, mayor bessant for the county, Senator Schatz, federal level and myself, plus all of our teams and what we saw was likely the largest Natural Disaster in hawaii state history. You will recall in 1960 we had one year into statehood a tsunami that hit and took 61 lives on the big island. We are seeing loss of life here. As you know, the number has been rising and we will continue to see but we have extraordinary professionals working on the job. We
of the pacific is now paradise lost. nomia iqbal, bbc news. the us coast guard has been working to rescue people off the coast of the town of lahaina after manyjumped into the water to escape the burning flames. they say a total of 17 people have been saved from the water. another a0 survivors have been found on shore and brought to safety by boat crews. the coast guard says search efforts have covered 689 square nautical miles, which isjust over 2000 square kilometres. now, the weather has been very dry in hawaii recently with isolated fires breaking out. however, as we mentioned earlier, a seemingly benign hurricane in the eastern pacific has escalated the situation. ben rich from bbc weather explains. the weather on its own rarely causes wildfires but it can bring conditions that make them more likely and help to fan the flames which is exactly what happened in hawaii. it s been very, very dry here of late and then passing to the south,
see in a war zone. i was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it. and ijust ran out to the beach and i ran south and ijust helped everybody i could along the way. still got dead bodies in the water, floating, and on the sea wall. they ve been sitting there since last night. we ve been pulling people out since last night, trying to save people s lives, and i feel like we re not getting the help we need. the us military has now mobilised as it tries desperately to suppress the fires over the island. a state nicknamed the paradise of the pacific is now paradise lost. the us coast guard has been working to rescue people off the coast of the town of lahaina after manyjumped