“We are with you, as long as it takes, I promise”: Joe Biden donned his “chief comforter” costume on Monday on the island of Maui in Hawaii, bereaved by catastrophic fires. During a visit of a few hours, he promised that the federal state would support the colossal reconstruction efforts after these fires which killed at least 114 people. “We’ll do it for you, we’ll do it the way you want it, not anyone else’s way,” the President promised.
The local population is worried about the possible takeover of land on the island by developers wishing to build expensive residences there. The 80-year-old Democrat, standing next to an emblematic century-old tree in the city of Lahaina, the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, wanted to see a symbol there: “Fire cannot reach its roots. This is Maui. This is what America is. »
Joe Biden called, as often on such occasions, his painful personal story. Recalling that he lost his first wife and their still-baby daughter in a car accident in 1972, he said, “I know that feeling of a lot of people in this town, that feeling of emptiness in their chests, which sucks you in like a black hole. »
Accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, he flew over devastated areas in a helicopter. He also walked down a street lined with charred buildings, stopping to pet one of the dogs used to search for bodies in the rubble.
The president, sporting a lei, the customary flower garland given to visitors to Hawaii, also spoke with families for just over an hour. “If anyone wants to talk to me when I’m done, I’m going to stay here because I want you to know I care about all of this,” the Democrat said as he concluded a speech to about 350 residents.
He then left for Nevada, where he is spending a week’s vacation. Joe Biden, who has made compassion his great political marker, had been criticized by the Republican opposition for not having spoken sufficiently publicly about the disaster, in particular when the toll was considerably increased there. one week.
In recent days, he has multiplied messages of support and promises of federal aid. The White House insistently recalls that it took barely an hour to declare, on August 10, a state of major natural disaster in Hawaii, at the request of local authorities. The Democrat has also appointed a federal coordinator for the reconstruction work.
A thousand people have not yet been located, some of whom could add to the death toll as the fire is already the deadliest in more than a century in the United States. The response from local authorities has sparked bitterness in Hawaii.
The presidential visit comes just days after the head of Maui’s crisis management agency resigned, accused of failing to sound the alarm sirens. Taken aback, some residents had thrown themselves into the sea to escape the flames.
“Would I have liked the sirens to sound?” Of course,” Gov. Josh Green said Sunday, while explaining that they were “historically” not used for fires, but for tsunamis and hurricanes. About 85% of the affected area was covered by “an army” of rescuers and sniffer dogs, Josh Green said Sunday.
