The fierce fires in Hawaii have claimed at least 111 lives so far. The fear is that this number will continue to rise sharply. Meanwhile, the head of disaster management on the island of Maui has resigned. He is not the only target of criticism.
Disaster relief officer Herman Andaya came under fire because residents of Maui were not warned of the approaching flames. And that while the island still has an advanced system with sirens. This is tested for a minute once a month, just like in the Netherlands. Last week, however, it remained silent. According to Andaya, that was because he was afraid that the residents would flee directly into the flames. This explanation is not accepted by many. He has now resigned, officially for ‘health reasons’.
It was an unprecedented disaster week for the US state. And the end to the misery is nowhere in sight. 111 deaths have now been confirmed. At the same time, more than a thousand people are still missing. Governor Josh Green predicts that rescuers will find “10 to 20 bodies a day” in the coming period. It will be very difficult to identify the remains that are yet to be found. That could take months, or even years, experts fear.
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Fireproof
There is growing criticism of Hawaii’s response to the impacts of climate change. Although fires are more common, in combination with the increasingly violent hurricanes and the increasing drought, they can cause enormous damage. Yet last month the governor stopped even stricter rules for making houses fireproof. According to him, these would stand in the way of eliminating the serious housing shortages. This would not have prevented the destruction of the historic town of Lahaina with all its wooden houses. However, those stricter rules must be introduced for the future, it sounds like now.
Another issue is the shortage of water on the islands. Due to cutbacks, one fifth of the total number of dams has been demolished in recent years. As a result, water storage has significantly decreased, with the result that the already dry soil became even drier due to inadequate irrigation. The biggest problem is the grass. In the past two centuries, a lot of land has been cleared for the construction of plantations. When those disappeared, the soil was replanted with grasses not native to Hawaii. However, these burn much more easily than native species. Fanned by the strong hurricane winds, the fire was able to spread very quickly. Experts are now calling for a different type of planting.
Current
Electricity company Hawaiian Electric (HE) is also getting a beating. He failed to remove the power from certain pipes, because sparks from them could cause a fire (which probably happened). The company argued that it did not want people to be left without power. It is now at risk of being taken to court. People are now calling for people to make more use of solar energy and generators, so that the electricity company can obtain electricity from the grid sooner in the future.
There are also pleas to dig more fire ditches, so that fires can no longer spread so quickly. Firefighters also need better training and equipment.
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