Maui fires latest update: Hawaii wildfire death toll rises as Biden ‘no comment’ line slammed

Moody’s Investors Service’s insurance team has estimated around $1bn in insured losses from fires.

“As of 11 August, several wildfires had caused a tragic loss of life and destroyed most of the Lahaina community in western Maui, Hawaii,” the economists said in the report.

“The Pacific Disaster Center and FEMA estimated that 2207 structures were damaged or destroyed in the Lahaina fire and 2719 structures exposed.

“Given the damage assessment and Lahaina’s relatively high $1.5 million average single-family home value, we estimate insured losses will be at least $1 billion and primarily affect P&C insurers with significant homeowners and commercial property market share in Lahaina. It will take weeks or months to determine the magnitude of the insured damages.”

Thousands of Hawaii citizens have been displaced following wildfires that devastated the historic town of Lahaina in Maui.

Here is a list of resources to help those impacted by the natural disaster:

Former Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson has announced that he is opening his homes to people impacted by the wildfires in Maui.

Mr Nelson moved full-time to West Maui more than a decade ago and has since invested in several short-term rental homes on the Hawaiian island.

“We’re doing the best we can, but we only have space for about 24 people,” Nelson told the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday.

“There are thousands of people homeless right now. It’s overwhelming.”

Only a quarter of the area has been searched so far for victims of the Lahaina fire.

In the latest update from officials, the Maui Police Department said that the death toll had climbed to 99 victims.

So far, only three have been formally identified.

The death toll is likely to climb higher still as only about 25 percent of the area has so far been searched.

When wildfires swept through Lahaina without warning last Tuesday, residents were forced to grab what they could and flee.

At least 99 residents have been killed, more than 2,000 buildings were destroyed, and an estimated 1,000 people remain unaccounted for.

Hundreds of families who escaped the inferno have begun the desperate task of searching for pets that were left behind in the chaos.

Facebook groups have been inundated with photos of cats, dogs, rabbits, horses and exotic birds, and many remain missing nearly one week on from the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century.

“I am absolutely heartbroken,” one pet owner wrote on the Lost & Found Animals of Maui Fires group along with photos of her cats Lily Jupiter, Puma and Tiger.

One week after the fires first began ravaging the island, officials announced a new grim death toll of 99 victims.

The governor warned that the number of fatalities may continue to increase by 10 to 20 people per day as officials continue to search for survivors and victims.

Officials announced that they will begin releasing the names of victims on Tuesday.

“Their names will be released after their families are notified,” Maui county said.

The wildfires that have devastated Hawaii in the past week now officially constitute the worst natural disaster of its type that America has seen in a century, its death toll now at 99, surpassing the number of people killed in California’s notorious Camp Fire of summer 2018.