How deadly wildfires caught Hawaii by surprise  

Welcome to Friday’s Early Edition from i.

The jaw-dropping beauty of Hawaii has always run alongside its vulnerability to natural disasters. The volcanic islands are prone to cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis – as well as eruptions. But devastating wildfires, were, until recent years, relatively uncommon in the state. Now, at least 53 people have been confirmed dead in the fires sweeping parts of Maui, making it the deadliest US wildfire in five years. Images of the charred remains of the scenic and historic resort town of Lahaina show the scale of destruction. Those who escaped have talked about how little time they had to prepare.”I opened the door, and the fire was almost on top of us,” Marlon Vasquez, a 31-year-old cook, told the Associated Press. “We never anticipated in this state that a hurricane which did not make impact on our islands will cause this type of wildfires, wildfires that wiped out communities, wildfires that wiped out businesses, wildfires that destroyed homes,” Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke said yesterday. So what caused it, and why were people caught so off guard? We’ll take a look after the headlines.

Today’s news, and why it matters

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Three questions on Hawaiian wildfires:

Why weren’t people prepared? One couple in Lahaina, Kamuela Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso and their 6-year-old son detailed the speed at which the fire spread. They only had time to grab a change of clothes and run as the vegetation around them caught fire. “We barely made it out,” Kawaakoa told the Associated Press. A store owner described the horror of seeing a body by a seawall, in what appeared to be a failed attempt to jump in the sea.”The fire came through so quickly that there was no notice,” she said. “I think a lot of people just had no time to get out.” With phone lines down many have been left wondering about the plight of loved ones. The islands have history when it comes to preparing for natural disasters. At a press conference on Wednesday, Jimmy Tokioka, the director of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, recalled the preparations for 1992’s Hurricane Iniki. Maui was already under a red flag alert, meaning an increased risk of fires, before they broke out on Tuesday. But it appears the combination of dry conditions and wind pushed the fires much faster than anticipated. Now the focus is on search, rescue and recovery. Like many Pacific nations, Hawaii has already been expecting an increase in climate-related disasters and this is likely to increase anger and action on that front. “Our home is on fire right now. There needs to be more action and more investment,” Ing an indigenous Hawaiian told NBC. “People hit first and worse by the climate crisis tend to be Black, indigenous and low income. Yet we’re the keepers of the knowledge of how to build a society that wouldn’t cause ecological collapse and societal doom.”

What caused it? The exact cause has not yet been determined – that will require a proper investigation. But we do know a number of factors that have contributed. Firstly, wildfires have become more common in Hawaii, and that is believed to be a result of a warming climate. The lush vegetation and rainforest of the tropical islands isn’t the kind of scenery one normally associates with the tinderbox conditions usually seen before other wildfires around the world. But Hawaii has witnessed a dry summer. Some 16 per cent of Maui County is currently in severe drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. Warmer temperatures have also meant thinner clouds, and therefore less rain, Abby Frazier, a climatologist at Clark University, told the New York Times. “There’s likely a climate change signal in everything we see,” she said. On top of that, there’s also been low humidity and strong winds from passing Hurricane Dora, which helped the fire to spread so rapidly. Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, but this year’s fires are burning faster and bigger than usual. US climatologist Professor Michael E Mann tweeted: What we’re seeing in #Maui is a “compound” climate catastrophe, where an immediate factor (in this case, unusually strong winds from the outer bands of a passing hurricane) interact w/ background state (extreme drought that has been in place for a month).”

How much damage has been done? The historic town of Lahaina has “been burned down,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Thursday morning “Without a doubt, it feel like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina.” Around 1,000 buildings have been razed, and the death toll currently sits at 56. It is expected to rise again as emergency workers access more areas. The island isn’t just known as a thriving tourist destination, it’s also rich with Native Hawaiian history and culture, raising fears that some of that will also be lost.

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 Culture Break

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 The Big Read

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 Sport

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 Something to brighten your day

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