The number of people who remain unaccounted for following a catastrophic wildfire that destroyed the historic Maui town of Lahaina last month has dropped to 66, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said.
The announcement comes on the one-month commemoration of the wildfire, which killed at least 115 people and displaced thousands more.
“The Maui Police Department continues to make daily progress on missing person reports and encourages families to share information about any missing loved ones,” Green said.
Last week, the governor said he anticipated the number of missing to drop into double digits from around 3,000 in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 8 blaze.
Despite his initial comments, it took officials an additional week to account for hundreds of people whose loved ones were desperate to locate them.
The process was complicated by the sheer number of people who were initially missing following the wildfire. Since then, thousands of Lahaina residents fled off Maui or have been sheltering with loved ones, short-term rentals or in local hotels.
Advocates for homeless residents insist that the total number of missing is much higher than what state officials have reported, due in part to the transient nature of unsheltered people.
Since Aug. 16, federal and state agencies have relocated more than 7,500 displaced survivors from shelters to a total of 29 hotels and Airbnb rentals, the governor said.
Nearly 16,000 people have filed for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he added.
“It’s going to be a long process for us to rebuild and heal, and we are grateful for the love and support coming to Maui from around the country and around the world,” Green said. “Please keep Maui in your hearts and your prayers as we start our long road to recovery.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
