(OPINION) The tragic disaster that we just witnessed in Hawaii should break all of our hearts. The death count just keeps going up, and it is being reported that these were the deadliest fires in the United States in more than 100 years.
In addition, Hawaii Governor Josh Green is telling us that this was actually “the largest natural disaster” that his state has ever experienced. More than 2,700 structures have been burned down in Lahaina alone, and it is estimated that the value of the property that has been destroyed is over 5 billion dollars.
We have never seen anything quite like this before, and I believe that the following are 9 questions that we should all be asking about the fires in Hawaii right now…
#1 How did the fires start? Governor Green is convinced that they were caused by a confluence of factors. Do you buy his explanation?…
Echoing wildfire experts, Gov. Green said Friday that he believes a confluence of weather conditions contributed to the ignition and spread of the blazes.
“It is a product, in my estimation, of certainly global warming combined with drought, combined with a super storm, where we had a hurricane offshore several hundred miles, still generating large winds,” Green told CNN.
#2 How did the fires spread so rapidly? According to multiple news reports, people were literally jumping into the ocean to escape because the fires were moving so rapidly…
With fires raging on Maui, two men felt there was nowhere to escape the flames – except for the ocean.
The two men live in Lahaina, a historic part of Maui loved by tourists, which appears to be heavily damaged by this week’s raging fire. They described a terrifying scene as they evacuated from Prison Street, right in the heart of Lahaina.
“I saw a couple people just running, I heard screams out of hell … explosions. It felt like we were in hell, it really was. It was just indescribable,” one of the men told Nexstar’s KHON.
#3 How did a fire that was supposedly “out” end up causing the most damage of all? According to Governor Green, the Lahaina fire was supposedly given new energy “by far-off Hurricane Dora”…
After first erupting early Tuesday, the fire was initially deemed to be out, but winds whipped up by far-off Hurricane Dora that reached up to 81 mph fanned the flames and spurred the blaze to travel about 1 mile every minute, Green said.
#4 According to U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda, the alarm system that is supposed to warn residents that a disaster is happening appears to have failed. How is that possible?…
We know everybody who’s ever lived in Hawaii knows the warning sirens. It goes off once a month at the beginning of the month at 12 noon, and it blares and if it doesn’t, it gets fixed, because that is our first line of defense.
Unfortunately, in this situation, sadly, tragically in this situation, those sirens likely did not go off. The warning signals that were on cell phones, we had no cell coverage or electricity in some of these areas. And the reality is with those warning signs, it tells all of us to turn on the television or look at our phones or turn on the radio.
The reality is was how fast this burn was. And you could see it in the videos that survivors were showing me. You could see it in the wreckage. If you turned on your phone, you turned on a radio, if you even could. Remember things were out at that particular point, you would not know what the crisis was.
#5 Why are emergency supplies not getting to the people that desperately need them? It is being reported that a “telecommunications blackout” has been one of the factors that has been hampering relief efforts…
But an enduring telecommunications blackout hampered government and grassroots efforts to distribute those supplies in the worst-affected neighborhoods, especially for an unknown number of survivors waiting out the aftermath in the few buildings still standing in the historic town of Lahaina and neighborhoods on the outskirts.
With their vehicles burned to a crisp, some sheltering at home have no way to drive to distribution centers miles away, or their cars have run out of gas. Others simply don’t know where to go for help. Toxic fumes and downed power lines with live wires make venturing outdoors dangerous.
#6 Why are people that have just had their homes burned down in the fires already being bombarded with calls with offers to purchase their properties?
The vultures are circling, and it appears that there are some people out there that are extremely interested in scooping up land inexpensively.
#7 Why has the FBI moved a “mobile refrigerated morgue” into Lahaina?…
A mobile refrigerated morgue has been brought to the devastated town of Lahaina as Maui officials continue their search for victims of the worst U.S. wildfire in 100 years.
The death toll on Sunday rose to 96, but Hawaii officials said it was likely to rise significantly. John Pelletier, the Maui police chief, said only three percent of Lahaina – home to more than 9,000 people – had been searched so far. (READ MORE)
