It's devastating
what's happening in Hawaii
and continues
so sad the death toll there at 36
and could go up.
Yeah it looks like it
that's the breaking news
we begin with this hour
and it is out of Hawaii.
We're just catastrophic
and unprecedented.
Wildfires as Victor said have killed
at least 36 people.
That death toll is in Maui
and it soared overnight.
Bodies were found in the ruins.
Take a look at what's left, Lahaina.
It's a historic town,
a very popular vacation spot.
The fast moving
inferno wiped out entire neighborhoods
and people jumped into the ocean
to escape the flames.
The fire was fueled in part
by powerful winds from a hurricane.
Take a look at this video
obtained by our local affiliate,
what you can see there as hurricane force
winds whipping
palm trees and explosions
as a marina and boats go up in flames.
Let's take a look at that devastation
on the ground.
These are just holes of homes,
the neighborhoods,
the businesses burned to the ground.
Listen to this survivor describe
the situation
Still get dead
bodies
in the water floating and on the seawall.
He's been sitting there since last night.
We've been pulling people out
since last night.
Trying to save people's lives.
And I feel like
we're not getting the help we need.
This is a nationwide issue at this point.
Yeah, we need help.
A lot of help.
We got to get people down here.
Veronica Miracle joins us live in Maui
where it is the middle of the night.
So you haven't even seen the extent
of the destruction.
We'll see that when the sun comes up.
But what can you tell us?
Being on the ground
That's exactly right, Poppy and Victor.
The death toll information
also coming in overnight.
So many people here on
the island of Maui will be waking up
to the news that.
36 of their community
members, loved ones, friends, have died.
That fire in
Lahaina is one of three fires
currently burning on the island here.
Firefighting efforts
continue as well as
search and rescue efforts
Oh, my gosh.
Look at the harbor.
The view from above
is of shock and heartbreak.
Oh, my God.
We were not prepared for what we saw
It looked like an area
that had been bombed in the war.
Wildfires rampaging
across the island of Maui.
Our entire street was burned
to the ground,
decimating homes and businesses.
Local people have lost everything.
They've lost their house.
They've lost their animals.
And it's it's devastating.
The Lahaina is on fire.
The historic town of Lahaina,
a popular tourist and economic hub
on the island's west side.
Particularly affected
with hundreds of structures impacted.
It happened so fast.
People stuck in traffic
trying to get out.
And there's
flame on on both sides of the road,
like something out of a horror movie.
Most of the fires on Maui fueled in part
by violent winds caused by hurricane Dora
churning more than 800 miles away.
Those winds now subsiding
as the storm pushes away.
The primary focus is to save lives and
to prevent human suffering
and to mitigate Greek property loss.
State Department crews
are assisting in efforts
to restore communication
across the islands and distribute water
with military helicopters
aiding in extinguishing the fires.
To see 47 supporting Maui County
they flew 13 hours to 58 drops
and about 150,000 gallons of water
to assist with suppression of the fire.
Recovery will be a long road ahead
according to Hawaii's
Lieutenant Governor, Sylvia Luke.
The damage to the infrastructure
it's not just buildings.
I mean these were small businesses
that invested in Maui.
These were local residents.
And, you know,
we need to figure out a way
to help
a lot of people in the
next several years.
An 11,000 people were
flown out of Maui yesterday.
Another 1500 people
expected to leave today.
Airlines are offering reduced fares.
They're also increasing
the number of flights
they're trying to get people out.
Officials are also asking
people to cancel their plans
to not come here.
They want to save the resources
for those who desperately need it.
Victor, Poppy.
Veronica Miracle,
thank you for that reporting from Maui.
Joining us now is pilot
and director of operations
for Air Maui Helicopters is Richie Olsen.
Richie, can you hear me?
We look like
we have a bit of an image problem.
You can hear me.
Okay. All right.
We'll figure the pictures out.
Good.
The images we're seeing from
from Maui, the damage is catastrophic.
We understand that.
But as someone
who has flown over malware
for more than 50 years,
what does it feel like
to see it this way?
Well, when we went up in the air
the other morning
to see
what kind of damage
there might have been,
we never suspected
that we'd see what we saw.
We thought that we
from the previous night,
we were watching the news
and seeing
some fires in light and so forth,
and we thought that we would see
some damage.
But as we approached the south shore,
the south end of Long Island
proceeded to head up the coast.
We were devastated by what we saw.
It was just
it was heartbreaking
because I've lived here most of my life.
And the entire town of Lahaina
is basically
was burnt to the ground,
the entire historic area.
Front Street, all the shops
people's homes, hundreds of homes.
It was
the other parts
here with me
to to view this
the way
we looked at each other in disbelief.
If we could not believe
what we were seeing,
it was just it was shocking.
Heartbreaking.
And we're our heart goes out to this.
So many people
that are displaced
and homeless at this time
And we're looking
at some of your video now.
We've spoken to a couple of guests here
who are still looking for
family members,
hoping to hear from friends,
all of your friends and family members,
they're accounted for.
They are.
Yesterday at work.
We have
had some employees that weren't
able to
get in touch
with some of their family members,
but they have now been
found and contacted.
But, you know, these
this is a long term situation here.
These people that lost their homes,
we have over 600 people.
And the War Memorial Stadium, the gym,
we have people in our churches.
You can refuge
and they have they have no place to go.
They're going to have to be
have some kind of temporary
housing set up for these people.
It's it's
just it's a disaster
like Hawaii's never seen.
Yeah.
And listen,
I'll say I'll preface this
by saying it is a secondary
or tertiary consideration after a life
and the homes
that people have lost,
every tangible thing they have.
But Maui relies upon tourism.
You are in the tourism industry
and what this means for business
and and the ability
to sustain this community.
When you look at the destruction,
how long and how badly has the community
been hit and hurt?
Well, I don't know that
Lahaina itself
will actually recover
from this situation,
especially with the loss of this
of the historic
area of the downtown and Front Street
and all the shops and businesses
where all the local people
that live there, that work,
hundreds and hundreds of people
that work in that
in that light, a town area,
you know, that there's
it's just leveled to the ground dust
and ashes at this time.
So this is going to be a long term
recovery for the economy.
For for the entire island,
let alone ride itself over you.
It's a little after 2 a.m.
there.
And I
hope that we can reach out to you again
if you go back up and get more pictures
showing us what is there.
Poppy just spoke with
John Kirby
from the White House,
saying that there is federal
help on the way.
And we're all thinking of you there
in Hawaii.
Richie Austin, thank you so much.
Thank you very much.