August 11, 2023 Maui wildfire news

Dozens of people have died in the raging wildfires that torched the Hawaiian island of Maui – and officials expect the toll to rise.

"We have not yet searched in the interior of the buildings,” Mayor Richard Bissen said Friday.

Much of Lahaina, a touristic and economic hub of 9,000 people, has been destroyed, and hundreds of families have been displaced. Hundreds of structures have also been impacted, including several historical sites that date to the 1800s.

See more satellite images taken on June 25 and August 9 that show an overview of Lahaina Square and outlets.

As the boat approaches Lahaina, the sun is strong, the waves crest into whitecaps and on the shore, so much is black.

"Puamana is gone!" a crew member shouts in shock, looking at one of the resort areas on Maui's western coast that drew tourists and is now wrecked by wildfire.

The ruins stretch as far as the eye can see, 100-foot coconut trees charred all the way up their trunks.

It's hard to even dock. Ferry boats have burned and sunk, just melted into the ocean to create underwater hazards. There's a powerful stench from the pipes, plastic and fiberglass boats that have liquefied into an evil soup now floating in the harbor.

Finally, onshore, the quaint, historic and simply charming town of Lahaina is unrecognizable.

The two-story Pioneer Inn with its airy wraparound verandas is burned to the ground. First built in 1901, it was the oldest hotel in Hawaii. And it's completely gone.

Even structures built out over pilings into the Pacific Ocean are reduced to cinders, showing how the flames from wildfires fanned by hurricane winds came not just down to the shore but engulfed anything they could reach there.

On the roads are burned-out shells of cars.

Survivors have told CNN how traffic stood at a standstill as the fire approached, forcing some people to run into the ocean to try to save themselves.

Read more here and watch Weir's report from Lahaina:

Maui Food Bank Executive Director Richard Yust said that financial contributions are needed to help serve families who have lost everything from the wildfires.

"We're having a mass influx of people needing food assistance," he told CNN.

"It's really sad so many people have lost everything. This is going to take a long time to, obviously either be rebuilt or — and that's going to be months, years, who knows how long. So we are gearing up for the long haul," he said.

Yust said Maui is resilient and very community-focused, but its location makes bringing in supplies a challenge.

"Even expedited ocean freight is two weeks out. And that's if everything falls right into place. So, yeah, I mean, we have limited resources here that are currently on the island," he said. But the harbors are in good shape, and containers are coming in, he added.

Here's how to help victims of the wildfires in Hawaii.

Residents of the hard-hit town of Lahaina are expected to be allowed back into their homes today, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday.

The official announcement will come from Maui’s mayor later today, Green said in an interview on local station KHON.

Additionally, Green said a curfew will also likely be implemented, and a hotline will be established to connect displaced residents with available rooms in homes and hotels.

CNN has reached out to the mayor’s office for more details. Maui County plans to provide radio updates three times each day, at 3 p.m. ET (9 a.m. local), 6 p.m. ET (12 p.m. local) and 9 p.m. ET (3 p.m. local).

Search dogs have not been able to access every burned building yet, Green said, cautioning residents not to go into any charred structure that appears unsafe.

Green plans to return to Maui tomorrow, he said.

President Joe Biden spoke with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green again on Friday, “after Governor Green completed a survey of destruction across Maui,” the White House said.

It’s at least the second time Biden has spoken with Hawaii’s governor since wildfires began to ravage the state. Last night, the White House announced that Biden had “expressed his deep condolences for the lives lost and vast destruction of land and property,” during the call, before confirming that he had signed a disaster declaration for the state.

Green estimated on Thursday that about 80% of Maui's Lahaina town – a tourism hub and historic whaling village — was destroyed.

Oprah Winfrey was spotted at Maui shelters visiting people displaced by the wildfires and bringing much-needed supplies. 

A spokesperson for Winfrey confirmed to CNN that the former talk show host and media mogul who owns property on the island has been volunteering at local shelters.

Hettrick said Winfrey plans to give more support “as it becomes clear which funds can be the most helpful for the short-term and long-term rebuilding.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, told reporters Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will push to include funding for Maui disaster relief in the supplemental funding bill. 

“Leader Schumer called and assured me that he was going to do everything he could in terms of disaster supplemental funding bill,” Schatz said at a news conference with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

Some context: Congress is headed for a spending showdown in the fall. The government has to be funded by September 30, and Congress is expected to need a short-term spending bill to give the House and Senate more time to negotiate.

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.

The federal government has released enough food and water to support to 5,000 people for five days as part of the ongoing response to the devastating Hawaii wildfires, a White House spokesperson said Friday. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is continuing to work on providing more shelter supplies, such as water, food and blankets, for people impacted in the state, the spokesperson added. 

The Coast Guard, Navy National Guard and Army are all working to support response and rescue efforts.  

The United States Department of Agriculture has also established a Type 3 Incident Management Team and is supporting requests from the state for wildfire liaisons.

President Joe Biden issued a federal disaster declaration on Thursday, promising to send whatever is needed to help the recovery. Assistance from the declaration can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help with recovery.

Hawaii County, known as the "Big Island," has created a task force to support Maui with its needs, including helping people find housing, plus contributing police and animal control officers, Mayor Mitch Roth said.

Roth said that while it was known that the islands were under a red flag warning and there would likely be "some fires, we didn't know we were going to have the extent that we did have."

"When you have 70-mile-an-hour winds, it's very difficult to keep those things under control," he added.