Local authorities now say 55 people have been killed and thousands left without power after wildfires swept through Maui and devastated Lahaina
Aftermath of the Hawaii wildfire – in pictures
How did the deadly Maui fire start and what caused it?
Local officials are still unclear on how many people are missing on Maui, and there is still work to be done in containing the fires.
Island police chief John Pelletier, cited by CNN, said on Thursday that communication challenges, with outages of cellular, internet and radio networks, were hampering efforts to determine how many people were missing. The US coast guard and a search and rescue team from California are being deployed.
Local county officials have put the death toll from the fires as at least 55.
The weather forecast is for falling wind speeds with the possibility of some showers.
An estimated 12,000 people are still without power, with authorities saying the outages could last for weeks due to the conditions.
The west side of the island, where the stricken city of Lahaina is, lacks power and water according to the mayor.
Questions are being asked about whether local officials acted fast enough to warn residents and tourists on the island of the danger they faced.
