THE Hawaii wildfires have reached a grim milestone as the death toll rose to 67, making it the deadliest natural disaster in the state’s history.
Hundreds more have been reported missing and the toll may still rise.
It comes as some Lahaina residents are being allowed to briefly return home on Friday to take stock of the damage to their fire-ravaged town.
They returned amid warnings they would be greeted by “destruction like they’ve not ever seen in their lives”.
State officials reopened Lahaina to people with proof of residency on Friday for the first time since flames swept rapidly through early this week, razing much of the historic town.
People who had been evacuated with only the clothes on their backs told the BBC they were concerned it may be hard to prove their residency.
A curfew will operate daily from 22:00 to 06:00 local time, and some of the hardest hit parts of the town remain restricted to search and rescue personnel.
West Maui, where Lahaina is located, is still without power and water. Search crews are still in the area looking for wildfire victims.
That includes in the water. The Coast Guard said it had pulled 17 people alive from the water near the town’s harbour so far. All were reported to be in a stable condition.
But Gabe Lucy, who owns a tour operator on Maui, told the BBC that he was hearing of horrific scenes.
“People were jumping in the water and I think for a lot of them the fire wrapped around so quick that the only way to escape was go down to the water’s edge,” said Mr Lucy, whose captains were called in to help rescue people.
He added that they were “picking up four-year-olds and putting them surfboards and pulling them out” and that he had heard reports of “bodies on the rocks”.
On the Honoapiilani Highway – one of the only available routes into Lahaina – cars sat bumper-to-bumper, with families looking tired and worried alongside trucks carrying water and fuel.
One family told the BBC they had stayed in Lahaina through the worst of the fire, only leaving on Thursday to buy much-needed supplies.
Their house was still standing, but they have been “sitting in the dark”.
The family told the BBC they believed the number of confirmed dead, though already high, would rise further. “On our street alone it’s 50 people,” one family member said.
Governor Josh Green warned Hawaiians on Friday what they found in Lahaina would be difficult.
“Lahaina is a devastated zone. They will see destruction like they’ve not ever seen in their lives,” said the governor, who visited the town on Thursday. “Be very safe, be very careful.”
