The death toll from the wildfires on Maui Island in the U.S. state of Hawaii has risen to 67 people as of yesterday, Friday, after search teams combed through the ruins of the Lahaina resort. Officials in Hawaii are working to determine how the flames spread so rapidly through the historic resort without significant warning. The fires have become the deadliest natural disaster in the state's history, surpassing the tsunami that killed 61 people on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1960, after Hawaii joined the United States.
Officials revealed that "search teams, using trained dogs to locate bodies, may discover more victims from the fires that destroyed a thousand buildings and displaced thousands, which will likely require many years and billions of dollars for reconstruction." Three days after the disaster, it remains unclear whether some residents received any warnings before the flames consumed their homes. The island has warning sirens for natural disasters and other threats, but they do not appear to have sounded during the fire.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green stated in an interview with CNN that he ordered a "comprehensive review this morning to know exactly what happened and when" concerning the sirens. Scientists indicate that "human-induced climate change through the use of fossil fuels is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather phenomena."
