West News Wire: Herman Andaya, the head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, has resigned. On Wednesday, he defended not sounding the sirens as wildfires tore through the island.
According to a press announcement from the mayor’s office, Andaya gave health-related reasons for her resignation.
On Thursday night, Mayor Richard Bissen said he had accepted the resignation and would start looking for a replacement right away.
Bissen said in a statement that “given the seriousness of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as we can and I look forward to making that announcement soon.”
The wildfires that started on the Hawaiian island of Maui on August 8 are now considered to be the deadliest natural disaster in state history, according to officials.
Due to extremely dry circumstances brought on by a drought and strong winds, the fires spread quickly. Officials declared that a significant portion of the ancient town of Lahaina had been “destroyed,” and that the flames had destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
Numerous deaths have been reported, and there are still many more persons missing.
As a result of the horrific flames on Maui, over 100 people have died. As they attempt to put out the active fires and evaluate the damage, officials have issued a warning that the number of fatalities is likely to climb.
Anne Lopez, the attorney general for Hawaii, revealed on Thursday that she is working with a third party “with experience in emergency management” to look into the devastating wildfires from last week.
In a statement, Lopez stated that “we intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness.”
The impartial study, according to the attorney general, is expected to take several months, and the data gathered by the outside party would be “used to assess the performance in emergency preparedness as we are constantly looking for ways to improve.”
According to Maui County officials, 40% of the affected region on Maui has been searched, and 111 people have died as a result.
The Olinda fire, Kula fire and Lahaina fire are 85%, 80% and 89% contained, respectively, officials said, adding that there are no active threats.
Electricity has been restored to more than 80% of the customers who lost power, officials said.
