As emergency personnel prepared to start examining over 1,000 structures burnt by the rapidly spreading flames, disbelief and worry about the total number of killed and unidentified from one of Hawaii’s deadliest natural tragedies continued to grow.
The official number of fatalities increased to 55 overnight, but the mayor of Maui County, Richard Bissen Jr., warned that currently, the count was limited to individuals whose remains had been discovered in the open, as rescuers had not yet moved inside structures in to look for the dead.
Additional rescue and search personnel, such as teams from California with expertise in discovering remains, came early on Friday to help.
It was anticipated that the heavy winds that started the devastating fire previously in the week would go away, but blackouts of electricity and water shortages continued to destroy the island’s ancient town of Lahaina and other areas, raising fears that further flames would start.
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