The head of the Hawaiian island of Maui’s crisis management agency, criticized for failing to sound the alarm sirens during the deadly fire that ravaged the town of Lahaina, resigned on Thursday.
This announcement comes a few days before the Monday visit of President Joe Biden, himself criticized by Republicans for his response deemed insufficient.
Survivors say they were not warned that a fire was heading towards Lahaina and its 12,000 residents.
Most of the victims found themselves trapped in their homes or cars as they desperately tried to escape the consuming flames.
The provisional toll of this fire which engulfed the port city of Lahaina, former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, amounts to 111 dead. It is already the deadliest fire for more than a century in the United States and the final toll could be much heavier.
“Today, Mayor Richard Bissen accepted the resignation of Maui Crisis Management Agency (MEMA) Administrator Herman Andaya,” the statement said. “Invoking health reasons, Mr. Andaya submitted his resignation which takes effect immediately”.
The day before, Mr. Andaya had affirmed, during a press conference, not to regret the non-triggering of the alarm sirens.
They “are used mainly for tsunamis” and the inhabitants “are trained to shelter at altitude” when they sound, he was justified.
He also wondered if the inhabitants, “who are inside, who have air conditioning, would have heard the sirens if they had sounded at 121 decibels”.
These warnings often proved unnecessary due to multiple power and network outages suffered by the island, battered by high winds fueled by a hurricane in the middle of the Pacific.
For a week, a lawsuit in incompetence is made to the local authorities, the inhabitants regretting a lack of warnings and pointing out many errors committed before, during and after the disaster.
Survivors told AFP that they only discovered the existence of the fire when they saw the flames spreading in their street.
Residents have also complained about the government’s slowness to come to their aid after the tragedy, with many saying that NGOs have been more important.
Research to find the bodies of the victims is slow, which fuels anger and results in a loss of confidence in elected officials and authorities.
Last week, the governor of the state of Hawaii, Josh Green, ordered the opening of an investigation into the origin of this terrifying fire, in order to learn from it.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced on Thursday the upcoming appointment of an independent body to conduct the investigation.
“Having a third party conduct the investigation will ensure accountability and transparency and reassure Hawaiians that all facts will come to light,” she said.
Rescuers and sniffer dogs continued Thursday to search the disaster area.
Only a handful of bodies found in Lahaina have been identified so far. Forensic experts, some of whom have worked on the 9/11 attacks, plane crashes or major fires, are on Maui to help identify badly burned bodies.
US President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Maui on Monday with his wife Jill to meet with survivors, rescue workers and officials.
Mr. Biden had quickly declared a state of natural disaster in Hawaii, which made it possible to deploy emergency assistance resources from the federal state.
But he was criticized by the opposition who considers his response insufficient, even indifferent to these fires: the president did not speak publicly when the balance sheet worsened heavily over the weekend.
08/18/2023 07:57:49 – Los Angeles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
