Hawaii residents are hoping their loved ones are alive as a wildfire disaster rages in Maui, claiming at least six lives and damaging 271 structures.
Locals say there were apocalyptic scenes overnight while by daylight, the true scope of the devastation was revealed.
Shopfronts were burnt out, homes destroyed and streets cluttered by warped pieces of metal.
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The bigger devastation was the loss of life as the mayor confirmed six people had died.
"This is a deeply somber day," Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said.
"The gravity of losing any life is tragic. As we grieve with their families, we offer prayers for comfort in this inconsolable time."
Officials fear the death toll could rise.
Resident Tiare Lawrence said it was lucky some of her family got out alive, but some remain unaccounted for.
"I still don't know where my little brother is," she said.
"I don't know where my stepdad is.
"Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burnt down.
Some aircraft resume flights, damage becomes clear
As winds diminished somewhat, some aircraft resumed flights, enabling pilots to view the full scope of the devastation.
Flyovers of the coastal town of Lahaina by US Civil Air Patrol and the Maui Fire Department showed the extent of the loss, said Mahina Martin, a spokesperson for Maui County.
Aerial video showed dozens of homes and businesses in Lahaina flattened, including on Front Street, a favourite spot for tourists to shop and dine.
Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbour were scorched, and grey smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.
"It's horrifying. I've flown here 52 years and I've never seen anything come close to that," said Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company.
"We had tears in our eyes, the other pilots on board and the mechanics, and me."
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Acting Governor Sylvia Luke said the flames "wiped out communities," and urged travellers to stay away.
"This is not a safe place to be," she said.
Maui officials urged visitors to leave Lahaina, and the island was organizing a "mass bus evacuation" Wednesday afternoon to take people directly to the airport, according to an update from the county.
The Australian Consul-General has released a list of shelters urging Australians on the ground in Maui to make their way to one of them if they can get there.
West Maui remained without cell or landline phone service or electricity, the county said.
Cause of wildfires unclear but climate change deemed contributing factor
Hawaii isn't the only US state grappling with devastating wildfires – a trend some experts had predicted for this season. Parts of Texas are under a critical fire risk Wednesday, a day after a brush fire engulfed an apartment building in the Austin area.
But the crisis unfolding in Maui is extraordinary, Hawaii's lieutenant governor said.
"The fact that we have wildfires in multiple areas as a result of indirectly from a hurricane is unprecedented," Luke said.
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The exact cause of the blaze couldn't be determined, but a number of factors, including high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation, likely contributed, said Major General Kenneth Hara, adjutant general for Hawaii State Department of Defense.
Experts also said climate change is increasing the likelihood of more extreme weather.
"Climate change in many parts of the world is increasing vegetation dryness, in large part because temperatures are hotter," Erica Fleishman said, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University.
"Even if you have the same amount of precipitation, if you have higher temperatures, things dry out faster."
Lahaina resident Keʻeaumoku Kapu was tying down loose objects in the wind at the cultural centre he runs in Lahaina when his wife showed up Tuesday afternoon and told him they needed to evacuate.
"Right at that time, things got crazy, the wind started picking up," Kapu said, who added that they got out "in the nick of time."
Two blocks away they saw fire and billowing smoke. Kapu, his wife and a friend jumped into his pickup truck.
"By the time we turned around, our building was on fire," he said. "It was that quick."
Crews were battling three fires in Maui: in Lahaina, south Maui's Kihei area and the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry, said Mahina Martin, spokesperson for Maui County.
In the Upcountry community of Kula, at least two homes were destroyed Tuesday in a fire that engulfed about 4.5 square kilometres, Bissen Jr. said.
There have been no reports of injuries or homes lost to three wildfires burning on Hawaii's Big Island, Mayor Mitch Roth said Wednesday. Firefighters did extinguish a few roof fires.
The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 805 kilometres, was partly to blame for gusts above 97 km/h that knocked out power, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters on Maui.
Dozens rescued and travellers stranded after evacuating
The Coast Guard on Tuesday rescued 14 people, including two children, who had fled into the ocean to escape the fire and smoky conditions, the county said in a statement.
Fires killed six people on Maui, but search and rescue operations continued and the number could rise, Bissen said.
Six patients were flown from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance company.
Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Center's burn unit, he said.
The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Centre, he said.
There was no count available for the number of people who have evacuated, but officials said there were four shelters open housing 2100 people.
Kahului Airport, the main airport in Maui, was sheltering 2000 travellers whose flights were cancelled or who recently arrived on the island, the county said. Officials were preparing the Hawaii Convention Centre in Honolulu to take in up to 4,000 displaced tourists and locals.
"Local people have lost everything," said James Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "They've lost their house, they've lost their animals."
A harrowing escape to a rainforest
Alan Dickar just learned one of his rental properties went up in flames when he saw an economic hub of Maui get swallowed by wildfire.
"Front Street exploded in flame," Dickar said.
Dickar, who has lived in the area for 24 years, said there was little time to flee.
"I grabbed some people I saw on the street who didn't seem to have a good plan. And I had told them, 'Get your stuff, get in my truck,'" he said.
"And there's only one road that leads out of Lahaina, so obviously it was backed up," Dickar said. "I dropped everybody else off and then I went to a place in another part of Maui that's far away. And as soon as I got there, that whole area had to evacuate because of a totally different fire. … Just as I arrived, that whole area got evacuated."
Dickar eventually fled to a remote part of Maui. "I figured that was enough, and I'm safe here at least from a fire evacuation because it's a rainforest," he said.
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A dozen people were rescued near Lahaina after "entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions," the Coast Guard and county officials said. "Individuals were transported by the Coast Guard to safe areas," Maui County officials said.
And it's not clear where the disaster will head next.
– With CNN, AP
