August 13, 2023 Maui wildfire news

By Amir Vera, Matt Meyer and Helen Regan, CNN

Updated 5:40 a.m. ET, August 14, 2023

What we covered

The official death toll from the wildfires in Maui thas reached 96 and there are warnings it could rise further. The blaze that devastated the historic town of Lahaina is now the deadliest US wildfire in over 100 years, officials said.
US Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told CNN she won't make "any excuses" for the tragedy as the state launches a formal review of its emergency response, including why it did not activate an extensive warning siren system.
With communications down around the island, some families are still anxiously waiting to hear from residents. But there are stories of hope: A grandfather finally reached his family Sunday, three days after they last heard from him.
Here's how to help victims of the wildfires in Hawaii.
In an area with limited connectivity? Get the latest news here.

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10:16 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Lahaina wildfire traveled "1 mile per minute," governor says

From CNN’s Andy Rose

Gov. Josh Green speaks in a video statement in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 13, 2023. Hawaii Governor's Office

The Lahaina wildfire that has killed at least 93 people on Maui traveled at an extraordinary speed, Hawaii's governor said Sunday.

“When the winds rose up — winds gusting as high as 81 miles per hour — fires spread rapidly,” Gov. Josh Green said in a video statement.
“We believe between 60 miles per hour and 81 miles per hour across that part of the island, and that meant that fire traveled one mile every minute.”

The governor said work is being ramped up to get displaced Lahaina residents into temporary residences, with more than 500 hotel rooms obtained with government subsidies.

“Some of the first individuals will go into hotels today, and then large numbers tomorrow and the days subsequent to that,” Green said.

The governor said rental homes will also be employed to help evacuees find temporary homes.

“Airbnb is going to offer us hundreds of typically short-term rentals in a longer term capacity, so we can put people into a place for months," he said.

10:13 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Here's the latest update on the Maui wildfires

From CNN's Andy Rose

The Maui County government issued an update on the state of the wildfires on Maui, the deadliest the US has seen in more than 100 years.

The official death toll remains at 93, but there are warnings it could rise further.

Here's where things stand as of 3 p.m. local time:

Lahaina fire: The fire that has devastated Lahaina is 85% contained and is estimated to stretch across 2,170 acres. The search and recovery effort is ongoing.
Upcountry/Kula fire: The fire is now 60% contained and is estimated to stretch across 678 acres. Hot spots in gulches and other hard to reach places, along with land divisions and fences, make this a difficult fire to contain, the county said.
Pulehu/Kihei fire: The fire remains 100% contained, the county said.
Puʻukoliʻi/Kaanapali fire: Initially reported on August 11, the fire was extinguished on August 12.

Some context: When a fire is 100% contained, it means firefighters have fully surrounded its perimeter. Only once a fire is declared “extinguished,” then it’s over, according to the Maui County government.

7:30 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Photos show the extent of the Maui firestorm's destruction. A long recovery is underway

From CNN Digital’s Photo Team

Deadly wildfires wiped out entire neighborhoods, burned historic landmarks to the ground and displaced thousands on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Here are some scenes from around Maui as residents start on the long road to recovery:

Fire damage is seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Saturday, August 12. Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Volunteers unload supplies from trucks before loading them onto boats for people in need at Kihei Ramp on Maui on Saturday. Evelio Contreras/CNN

Volunteers carry donated supplies to distribute to fire victims in Wailuku, Hawaii, on Saturday. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Burned houses and buildings are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Saturday. Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images

Brook Cretton salvages a bowl he found while sifting through the rubble of a home destroyed by wildfire in Kula, Hawaii, on Saturday. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Displaced Lahaina residents attend a memorial service at Maui Coffee Attic in Wailuku, Hawaii, on Saturday. The cafe hosted Grace Baptist Church's Sunday service after the church was destroyed in the fire. Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

A Mercy Worldwide volunteer assesses the damage to an apartment complex in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Saturday. Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images

See more photos here.

8:07 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Hawaii senator: "I am not going to make any excuses for this tragedy"

From CNN’s Raja Razek

Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono speaks with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. CNN

As the deadliest US wildfire in more than 100 years broke out and Maui lost power and communications, the largest siren system in the world remained silent. Some residents say they did not receive an official warning, and there have been complaints that officials were woefully unprepared for wildfires.

"I am not going to make any excuses for this tragedy," US Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday. "But the attorney general has launched a review of what happened with those sirens and some of the other actions that were taken."

The senator added that there will be a time coming up for those kinds of reviews and investigations, but she is now focused on the need for rescue.

Hirono spoke with Tapper Sunday morning, a day after surveying the damage on Maui with the state's governor and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"The entire historic town of Lahaina burned to the ground," she said, adding that there were images of cars that were totally demolished. "We saw a group of cars near the ocean, and it is quite clear that the occupants of those cars probably fled into the ocean, and I was told at least 12 people were rescued from the ocean in that location."

The senator also discussed the people who are still missing, saying "we are in a period of mourning and loss."

"Some of them have been accounted for, some of them have been found in the shelters," she said. "I visited one with some 400 residents sleeping on cots, and we are going to need to provide them with short-term and long-term housing."

Hirono also spoke about resources and government agency support while acknowledging the state is in a period of "shock and loss."

"We know that recovery will be long, and the resources will be necessary," she said. "The focus right now is truly on recovery. There are still people who are unaccounted for. They need to be identified. There is a call for people to come in to provide DNA."

On climate change, and if the senator would like President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency, Hirono said "we very much need to acknowledge that climate change is upon us," adding that "more needs to be done."

"There is not enough recognition that we are going to need to combat these kinds of wildfires," she said. "We need to be to be assessing our ability to contend with these kinds of natural disasters, which we are seeing more of the frequency and the damage that is done. Clearly, this is happening all across the world," the senator added.

6:52 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Maui faces struggle between housing for displaced residents and the economic engine of tourism

From CNN’s Andy Rose

As the Hawaiian island of Maui receives help from around the world in recovering from its deadly wildfires, some residents say the greatest need is something that can’t be shipped in from the mainland: a place to stay.

“We're short on housing here,” Mike Cicchino told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Sunday. His family is now staying in Kihei after the fire encroaching on his Lahaina home forced him to take refuge along the seawall for 12 hours. “We just went through a nightmare, and we're about to go through another nightmare trying to, basically, not stay homeless.”

Hawaii officials have stressed in news briefings that the island is not closed to tourists, particularly the eastern side that was unaffected by wildfires. While one runway of Kahului Airport has been closed to general aviation in order to allow more cargo shipments in, the Department of Transportation said commercial flights onto Maui are unaffected. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the island to effectively shut down its largest economic engine for months, and officials are anxious not to discourage visitors again.

Cicchino said that is effectively forcing evacuated residents of West Maui to compete with tourists for housing.

“I hate to say it, but I think they should put a little hold on people coming to visit because we don't have any places for locals to stay,” he said. “They're going to need those hotel rooms. They're going to need our Airbnbs, Vrbos."

While there are mass shelters available for evacuees, Cicchino says he’s not sure how long that can be a viable solution.

“We're in desperate need out here,” he said. “A lot of people have nowhere to go.”

6:40 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Biden regularly briefed on the situation in Hawaii this weekend, White House official says

From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez

President Joe Biden has been regularly briefed on the situation in Hawaii over the weekend, a White House official told CNN, as the death toll rises and the scope of the damage comes into view.

Biden, who’s in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for the weekend, told reporters Sunday “we’re looking at it” in response to shouted questions about the wildfires that ripped through Maui.

The Biden administration has deployed various federal assets to the state to help with recovery. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell, US Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell and US Small Business Administration Associate Administrator Francisco Sànchez Jr. surveyed the damage on Sunday, according to FEMA.

Over the weekend, White House officials were also regularly in touch with state officials as they assessed the damage, the official said.

It’s unclear whether Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Hawaii to see the devastation. Harris said Friday that she and the president were closely monitoring the ongoing crisis. Asked about potentially traveling to the state, Harris indicated she would like to go but that they need to balance any potential travel without taking away from resources on the ground.

Harris also continued to be briefed over the weekend, according to a second White House official.

“We don’t want to distract from the resources that need to go to the victims of this tragedy and of course the needs of the first responders have to be able to focus on that issue and not worry about focusing on us (because) we’re there,” Harris told reporters Friday.

Harris also continued to be briefed over the weekend, according to a second White House official.

8:24 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Maui residents lean on each other after losing their homes, friends and town of Lahaina

From CNN’s Mike Valerio, Cole Higgins and Sara Smart

Susan Slobodnjak speaks to CNN on Sunday, August 12. CNN

Residents that have lived on Maui for decades say they will band together to rebuild their reeling community after wildfires tore through the area.

Susan Slobodnjak, who has lived on the Hawaiian island for 31 years, told CNN she lost a friend who went back to her home to get her animals during the fire. Slobodnjak said she lives just outside Lahaina, and while her house survived the fires, she has no power and water.

“I had no idea what was going on just two miles down the road,” she said. “We had no information.”

Slobodnjak explained that everything in the area is gone, and houses and buildings are completely flattened.

“When I drove through on Friday, I had no clue what I was going through. Everything’s gone,” she said.

Brian Maher moved out of Lahaina a year ago after living there for 32 years. Maher told CNN he works with a nonprofit that helps people recover from substance abuse and the entire building burned down.

Another Lahaina resident, Blake, has lived in the area for 10 years and lost his home during the fires.

“I lost pretty much everything except for what I could grab on my way out,” he told CNN. “It was just so fast, it was unbelievable.”

The three explained how well the community is working together to help each other get through this tragedy.

“We’re going to rebuild and it’s going to be OK, but we just got to get through this tough period right now,” Blake said.

4:03 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

Grandfather sends text to family that he is alive and uninjured 3 days after they last heard from him

From CNN’s Sara Smart

Brittany Talley and her family last heard from her grandfather, Timm “TK” Williams Sr., on Wednesday when the 66-year-old man sent a photo of a raging wildfire on Maui as he evacuated the area of Kaanapali.

On Saturday, Williams was able to get enough signal on his cell phone to text Talley’s mother, telling them he was safe, Talley told CNN.

“We were able to find people on the island who were able to get to him and contact him,” Talley said, adding that "thousands of people are experiencing the worst moment of their lives right now, so receiving a text was a small gesture, but a huge blessing for my entire family.”

4:03 p.m. ET, August 13, 2023

It's early morning in Hawaii. Here's the latest on the devastating Maui wildfires

The Maui wildfires are now the deadliest the US has seen in more than 100 years.

“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Saturday. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.”

If you are just joining us, here's the latest:

Worst in a century: The official death toll for the wildfires currently stands at 93. According to research from the National Fire Protection Association, the fire in Lahaina is the fifth deadliest in US history and the worst since the 1918 Cloquet fire in Minnesota. But officials warn the figure is expected to rise further still. “None of us really know the size of it yet,” Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.
The search for victims: Only two of the people whose remains have been found in the wake of the wildfire have been identified, according to an update from Maui County. The police chief emphasized it would take time to identify people who died in such an intense firestorm.
Far-reaching consequences: Around 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the fires on Maui, Green said, with losses approaching an estimated $6 billion.
Containing the flames: Firefighters have made some progress on the three largest wildfires that crews have been combating on Maui. The deadly fire in hard-hit Lahaina has not grown, but is still not fully under control, fire chiefs said.
Evacuations: The fires have displaced thousands of people. A total of 1,418 people are at emergency evacuation shelters, according to Maui County officials. At least 1,000 rooms have been secured for support staff and those displaced by the Lahaina fires. Long-term housing solutions are being sought.
Disaster response under review: Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez will lead a comprehensive review of officials’ response to the catastrophic wildfires. “My Department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing with the public the results of this review,” Lopez said in a statement.
Climate change: While Hawaii is no stranger to natural disasters, the fires that ripped through Maui this week are a stark reminder of a changing climate, Green told journalists Saturday. "We've been experiencing wildfires for decades ... but this is the first time we've ever experienced wildfires in the context of (current) conditions: global warming and with the hurricane that's just passing us," he added.