President Joe Biden vowed yesterday that the US government would remain committed to the people of Maui as they recover, rebuild and grieve in the wake of wildfires that destroyed the town of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people.
In a brief video aired on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America,’ Biden said the federal government has already taken immediate action, sending hundreds of emergency personnel, thousands of meals and supplies to the devastated resort town where some 2,200 buildings were destroyed.
“We will be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,” the president said. “Already from the darkness and the smoke and the ash, we see the light of hope and strength.”
During his remarks, Biden highlighted the efforts of first responders – many of whom have been personally affected by the wildfires. Local first responders have worked around the clock searching for the missing, while volunteers deliver aid by fishing boats and local chefs prepare meals for displaced families, he noted.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Hawaii on Monday to survey the devastation and meet with first responders, survivors and federal, state and local officials.
“I want the people of Hawaii to know that your country is with you as long as it takes,” he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers are coming to the aid of displaced Lahaina residents, many of whom are now sleeping in Maui County-run shelters, at the homes of friends and relatives, or in donated hotel rooms and vacation rentals.
Volunteers are donating supplies, handing out food and water and providing emotional support to many of their fellow Maui residents who lost their homes and all of their belongings.
“We’re all one big family in Maui, we call it ‘ohana,’” said Louis Romero, a 55-year-old retired battalion chief for the island’s fire department, who is helping run a crisis-relief hub. “You don’t have to be blood relatives to consider you family. That’s the Hawaiian way. We help each other.”
Maui County Emergency Management Agency administrator Herman Andaya defended the department’s decision not to sound sirens during last week’s deadly wildfires as questions intensify regarding how residents were alerted to the growing threat early last week.
Andaya said using sirens that typically alert people to tsunamis might have led people to evacuate towards the danger.
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