Varying types of recovery in Maui
Schools reopen as dogs search for more victims
Public schools on Maui started the process of reopening and traffic resumed on a major access road in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed over 100 people, even as officials raised concerns Wednesday that the very young and old were among the dead on Hawaii’s second-largest island.
At least three schools untouched by flames in Lahaina, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to ash, were still being assessed after sustaining wind damage, said Hawaii Department of Education superintendent Keith Hayashi. The campuses will open when they’re deemed safe.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, but overall the campuses and classrooms are in good condition structurally, which is encouraging,” Hayashi said in a video update. “We know the recovery effort is still in the early stages, and we continue to grieve the many lives lost.”
Elsewhere on Maui, crews cleaned up ash and debris at schools, and tested air and water quality. Displaced students who enroll at those campuses can access services such as meals and counseling, Hayashi said. The education department is also offering counseling for kids, family members and staff.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first disaster recovery center on Maui, “an important first step” toward helping residents get information about assistance, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday. They also can go there for updates on their aid applications.
Criswell said she would accompany President Joe Biden on Monday when he visits Maui to survey the damage and “bring hope.”
Meanwhile, transportation officials said the Lahaina Bypass Road, closed since Aug. 8, was open again, allowing residents to access the burn zone.
With the death toll already at 106, a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday to help with the grim task of sorting through remains.
Search and recovery crews using cadaver dogs had scoured approximately 30 percent of the burn area by Tuesday, officials said. The number of canine teams was increasing to more than 40 because of the difficulty and scope of the operation,
FEMA said. The dogs need to rest frequently because of the terrain and heat.
Searchers combing through the ashes found some of Lahaina’s most vulnerable residents, including children, among the victims. Gov. Josh Green said this week that teams found a family of four killed in a charred car and the remains of seven family members inside a burneddown house.
“Some of the sights are too much to share, or see, just from a human perspective,” Green told Hawaii News Now on Tuesday.
Just over a quarter of Lahaina’s 13,000 residents are under age 18, according to Census Reporter, an organization that analyzes U.S. Census data. Another 10 percent are ages 71 or older.
Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina was destroyed and Principal Tonata Lolesio said lessons would resume in the coming weeks at another Catholic school. She said it was important for the students to be with their friends, teachers and books.
“I’m hoping to at least try to get some normalcy or get them in a room where they can continue to learn or just be in another environment where they can take their minds off of that,” she said.