The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), Herman Andaya, resigns effective immediately. That made the mayor of stricken Maui announced in a statement Thursday. The decision — officially for “health reasons” — comes after a week of criticism of the actions of the disaster management organization, which was found to have seriously underestimated the danger of wildfires on the island. At least 111 people have died in the fires in Hawaii.
Critics questioned MEMA’s decision not to sound the siren system used to warn of natural disasters when the fires started. On Wednesday, Andaya had stated that he does not regret that decision, for which his organization is responsible. As an explanation, he argued that the sirens, of which Maui has eighty, are mainly used for tsunami warnings. That is why he feared that the alarm systems going off would drive residents to higher areas, where the fires raged the most.
Contribution to chaos
Although Hawaiian authorities installed the sirens in 1946 in response to a disastrous tsunami that killed more than 150, they are now also being activated to warn of fires, it says. on the local district website.
Last week’s fires engulfed the historic coastal city of Lahaina. Various media messages in the aftermath that not activating the sirens contributed to the chaos in the disaster area. Citizens mainly depended on communication via social media. Those sometimes confusing messages reached a much smaller audience. Andaya is also blamed for water shortages, which made the work of the fire brigade more difficult, and traffic jams on escape routes. Residents filed a lawsuit against local authorities over their alleged negligence.