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LAHAINA Destructive wildfires have consumed much of Lahaina Town as the number of confirmed deaths continues to grow. Many cultural landmarks, cherished by
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FILE chuchart duangdaw/Getty Images(NEW YORK) The deadly wildfires that erupted on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 8 have become the deadliest natural disaster in state history, officials said.
The blazes spread rapidly due to very dry conditions stemming from a drought combined with powerful winds. Much of the historic town of Lahaina has been "destroyed," officials said, and the inferno has burned thousands of residential and commercial buildings to the ground.
Here s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 21, 8:29 AM EDT Bidens to receive ground tour in hard-hit Lahaina
President Joe Biden and the first lady will travel to Maui on Monday to meet with survivors and community members, and to survey the area devastated by the deadly wildfires.
The Bidens will receive an aerial tour of impacted areas before landing in hard-hit Lahaina and touring part of the historic town to see the damage firsthand, according to a White House official.
The president will also deliver remarks and announce Bob Fenton, the Region 9 administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as the chief federal response coordinator to oversee Maui s long-term coordinated federal recovery effort.
The Bidens will then attend a community engagement to meet with survivors, first responders, community members and other officials and volunteers who are supporting the recovery efforts.
-ABC News Justin Gomez
Aug 21, 4:53 AM EDT 850 missing after Lahaina fire, mayor says
There are 850 names on the list of people still missing following the Lahaina wildfire, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said.
"There is positive news in this number, because when this process began the missing person list contained over 2,000 names," Bissen said in a recorded video posted on social media on Sunday evening.
He said 114 people had been confirmed dead, of which 27 had been identified. Eleven families have been notified.
The latest figure for the missing is the result of a painstaking process undertaken by the FBI, he said. The bureau "combined and refined" the separate lists that had been collected by the American Red Cross, the FBI s Honolulu bureau, the Maui Police Department and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Since the lists were started, more than 1,285 people have been located, Bissen said.
"Our lives have changed forever and things will not be the same," Bissen said. "What will be the same is the way we care for each other as we grieve and go through this together."
-ABC News Aliyah Thomas
Aug 20, 8:26 PM EDT 85% of impacted areas in Maui searched
Searches have been performed on 85% of the impacted areas in Maui, Gov. Green said Sunday.
During his briefing, shared on X (formally known as Twitter), Green said 1,800 people are in hotel rooms, with very few people left in shelters.
Sunday also brought news that Maui is bracing for the storm impacts of tropical cyclone Fernanda. “Remnant moisture” from Fernanda is expected to approach late Sunday, officials said in a release. According to the National Weather Service, the highest amounts of rainfall is expected Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning.
To prepare for the incoming weather system, emergency response crews have begun deploying “inlet protection devices” at the storm drain catch basins within Lahaina, authorities said Sunday. The U.S. Coast Guard has also installed absorbent booms at eight storm drain outfalls.
Officials warn the areas most impacted by the wildfires are at a heightened risk of flooding during heavy rain. Residents are being asked to be vigilant about flood risks and rainfall.
Aug 19, 5:17 PM EDT Details of Biden trip still being worked out
Ahead of President Joe Biden and the first lady s visit to Maui on Monday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters that details of the trip are still being "developed."
She couldn t say how Biden will exactly survey the damage.
"There are a bunch of different options that are available whether it s aerial or if there s a part that s safe to go into on the ground but all of that is still being developed," she said, adding that they are working closely with county officials.
Criswell said the Bidens will "personally stand with the community" to reassure them that the federal government will be there "every step of the way."
-ABC News Justin Gomez
Aug 19, 11:24 AM EDT Death toll rises to 114, as 78% of the area has been searched
Three more people have been confirmed dead in the Maui wildfires, increasing the total number of confirmed fatalities to 114.
As of Friday night, the Maui Police Department reports that 78% of the area has been searched, according to officials.
The Olinda and Kula are now 85% contained, the Lahaina fire is 90% contained and the Pulehu / Kihei fire is 100% contained, according to Maui officials.
Aug 18, 4:01 PM EDT Number of missing remains unclear
Officials have been referring families with missing loved ones to Maui Emergency Management Agency, which has not released an official number of missing or list of the names.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said they are considering those who are missing "unaccounted for."
"We re going to get everybody that s unaccounted for to the best of our ability accounted for," he told reporters earlier this week. "But I can t promise that we re gonna get them all. And I don t think that s fair to ask that."
One team of volunteers is behind the Maui Fires People Locator, a spreadsheet that is so widely used that a QR code for it is posted all over the island. The Google document has received so much traffic that the volunteers urge people to refrain from viewing it unless they are looking for a specific loved one.
The document lists more than 950 people as currently "not located." The group told ABC News that as more people gain access to communications, many have realized they were on the list as "not located" and self-reported that they are found.
Another group of volunteers is tracking people who were unhoused prior to the fires in a spreadsheet titled Lahaina Unsheltered Missing Persons Search. That effort is led by Maui Rescue Mission Outreach workers, who are also updating their numbers to the Maui Fires People Locator.
Click here to read more.
-ABC News Meredith Deliso
Aug 18, 7:07 AM EDT Fire moved like a freight train, FEMA official says
The fire that ripped through Lahaina moved so quickly that there was little chance for those fleeing to outrun it, an official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency told ABC News.
"This fire was moving like a freight train," John Mills, an agency spokesperson, told ABC News Whit Johnson on Good Morning America on Friday.
Mills added, "People could not drive fast enough to outrun it, much less run fast enough. They sought shelter anywhere they could."
Aug 18, 5:29 AM EDT More than half of destroyed area searched
Search crews had covered about 58% of the area destroyed by wildfires in Maui by Thursday evening, up from about 40% the evening prior, officials said in a late update.
The number of fatalities confirmed remained at 111 as of about 9 p.m. local time on Thursday, officials said.
-ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway
Aug 17, 9:03 PM EDT Maui Emergency Management Agency official resigns over health reasons
Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator Herman Andaya, who on Wednesday defended not sounding the sirens as wildfires ripped through the island, has resigned.
Andaya cited health reasons for resigning, according to a news release from the mayor s office
Mayor Richard Bissen accepted the resignation and announced Thursday night he will quickly work to fill the position.
“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Bissen said in a statement.
Aug 17, 5:57 PM EDT FEMA launches website to dispel rumors
Following reports of misinformation over the federal gov