Maui wildfires leave trail of death and destruction

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.”