Maui fire survivors face power cuts as teams work to identify the dead

Survivors of deadly wildfires on Maui have faced intermittent power and unreliable mobile phone service as they sought help to rebuild their lives.

Teams of people are also working to find the dead and identify them after the blaze tore through the Hawaiian island.

With the death toll already at 106, a mobile mortuary unit with additional coroners arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday to help with the grim task of sorting through the remains.

The state governor has warned that a new storm could complicate the search and recovery efforts.

A week after a wildfire all but incinerated the historic town of Lahaina, communication on the island is still difficult.

Some people walked to a seawall where phone connections were strongest in order to make calls.

Flying low off the coast, a single-prop plane used a loudspeaker to deliver information about where to get water and supplies.

Thousands of people are staying in shelters, in hotel rooms and Airbnb units, or with friends.

Around 2,000 homes and businesses still do not have electricity, Maui County wrote on Tuesday night, after the power company restored supply to more than 10,000 customers.

The fire also contaminated water supplies in many areas.

The county has released the names of two victims: Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79. They are the first of five who have been identified so far.

Crews with dogs are rushing to secure remains, governor Josh Green said, ahead of possible storms forecast for the weekend.

He said: “I want the rain, ironically, but that’s why we’re racing right now to do all the recovery that we can, because winds or heavy rain in that disaster setting … will make it even harder to get the final determination of who we lost.”

Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 32% of the burn area, according to Maui County, and Mr Green has warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires are already the deadliest in the US in more than a century.

The governor added that officials are considering cutting off power during the storms as a precautionary measure.

The local power utility has faced criticism for leaving power on as strong winds from a passing hurricane buffeted a parched area last week, and one video shows a cable dangling in a charred patch of grass, surrounded by flames, in the early moments of the wildfire.

The cause of the wildfires, some of which are still burning, is still under investigation.

Hawaiian Electric Co president and CEO Shelee Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialised medical equipment and concerns that a shut-off in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.

Maui police chief John Pelletier renewed an appeal for families with missing relatives to provide DNA samples.

So far, 41 samples have been submitted, the county statement said, and 13 DNA profiles have been obtained from remains.

Federal officials sent a mobile mortuary unit with coroners, pathologists and technicians to Hawaii to help identify the dead, said Johnathan Greene, a deputy assistant secretary at the US department of health and human services.

The mortuary unit included 22 tonnes of supplies and equipment such as mortuary examination tables and X-ray units, Mr Greene said.

“It’s going to be a very, very difficult mission,” Mr Greene added. “And patience will be incredibly important because of the number of victims.”

The state governor Josh Green told Hawaii News Now that children are among the dead: “When the bodies are smaller, we know it’s a child.”

He described some of the sites being searched as “too much to share or see from just a human perspective”.

The blaze that swept into Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire was 75% contained as of Tuesday evening.

US President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden would visit Hawaii “as soon as we can”, but he does not want his presence to interrupt recovery and clean-up efforts.

Lahaina resident Kekoa Lansford helped rescue people as the flames swept through town. Now he is collecting stories from survivors, hoping to create a timeline of what happened.

The scene was haunting, he said, adding: “You ever seen hell in the movies? That is what it looked like. Fire everywhere. Dead people.”