Biden heads to Maui for an emotional day of meeting wildfire survivors and emergency workers

By SEUNG MIN KIM
Associated Press

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are traveling to Maui on Monday for an emotional day of comforting survivors of the devastating wildfires that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island, as his administration responds to the devastation whose full scope is still unknown.

The Bidens interrupted a weeklong vacation in the Lake Tahoe area for the five-hour flight to Lahaina, a historic town of 13,000 people that was virtually destroyed by the flames. The couple will meet with first responders and be briefed by state and local officials about the ongoing response.

They will also see the destruction from the air and on the ground, and the Democratic president will deliver remarks paying tribute to the victims of the wildfires, which have killed more than 100 people since they erupted on Aug. 8.

“It’s going to be an emotional day for everyone,” Olivia Dalton, the White House deputy press secretary, told reporters traveling with Biden.

The White House announced Monday that Biden has named Bob Fenton, a regional leader at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to be the chief federal response coordinator for the Maui wildfires, ensuring that someone from his administration will be responsible for long-term recovery efforts. It will take years to rebuild Lahaina, where just about every building was obliterated.

“I know how profoundly loss can impact a family and a community and I know nothing can replace the loss of life,” Biden said in a statement before the trip. “I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And throughout our efforts, we are focused on respecting sacred lands, cultures, and traditions.”

Lahaina is a community of “significant historical and cultural importance,” Dalton said.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said that as of Sunday about 85% of the affected area had been searched and nearly 2,000 people remained without power and 10,000 were without telecom connectivity. Water in parts of west Maui is not safe to drink.

While immediate aid such as water, food and blankets has been readily distributed to residents, Schatz said cellphones, ID and other documents that people would need to help them enroll in longer-term aid programs were burned in the fires, adding more challenges to the application process.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that “an army of search and rescue teams” with 41 dogs had blanketed the affected area.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a social media post Sunday that 27 victims had been identified and 11 families were notified of the losses. The FBI and the Maui County medical examiner and coroner’s office are working together to identify the recovered remains.

Bissen said 850 names were on a list of missing people, taking hope from the fact that the initial list contained more than 2,000 names.

“We are both saddened and relieved about these numbers as we continue the recovery process,” Bissen said. “The number of identified will rise, and the number of missing may decrease.”

More than 1,000 federal officials remain on the ground to respond to the wildfires in Hawaii, according to the White House. The administration has distributed more than $8.5 million in aid to some 8,000 affected families, including $3.6 million in rental assistance, said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who joined Dalton to brief reporters aboard Monday’s flight.

Schatz, who will join Biden on Monday, stressed that officials were “still responding to the disaster” and “we are not yet in a recovery phase.”

“As bad as this looks, it’s actually worse,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday. “What you can’t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can’t see is the thousands of kids who are trying to figure out how to go to school this fall. What you can’t see is the first responders who went into the flames without regard for their own safety and had their own homes burned down.”

While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Biden has been on the phone regularly with officials to get briefed on updates to the wildfire response, the White House said.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Dalton, not Criswell, said Lahaina is a community of significant historical and cultural importance.

___

Associated Press writer Claire Rush in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.