Hawaii

Taiwan prez meets Hawaii's Guv, members of Congress; China condemns visit

On a two-day visit to Hawaii, Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te met with the state's governor and congressional representatives as part of a Pacific island tour that has already triggered criticism from Beijing. On Sunday, China's Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemned US support for Lai's visit and lodged a complaint with the US. It also denounced a newly announced US weapons sale to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own territory. China will closely monitor the situation's development, and take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said the statement. Hawaii was Lai's first stop on a weeklong voyage that will later take him to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau. They account for three of the 12 countries Taipei has formal diplomatic relations with. Hawaii's Gov Josh Green on Saturday hosted Lai at the state's emergency management agency where they discussed disaster preparedness. Green, who w

Taiwan Prez thanks US for his Hawaii transit stop, vows to maintain peace

Earlier in the day, Lai visited the USS Arizona Memorial, where he laid a wreath to honour those who perished during the 1941 Japanese attack

Hawaii's Big Island under storm warning as Hone approaches with rain, wind

Tropical Storm Hone is expected to whip gusts and drop rain on the southern edges of Hawaii this weekend, potentially inflicting flooding and wind damage on the Big Island and raising the risk of wildfires on the drier sides of the islands. The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning for Hawaii County, which includes all of the Big Island and a red flag warning for the leeward sides of all islands. Hone, which means sweet and soft in Hawaiian, will likely gradually strengthen and become a strong tropical storm as it passes south of the islands Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service said. It's expected to become a Category 1 hurricane for a 12-hour period on Sunday but will likely be past the Big Island by that point, said Laura Farris, a weather service meteorologist in Honolulu. The Hawaii Tourism Authority told travellers it's still safe to come to the islands but recommended that people postpone outdoor activities. We are not advising visitors to

Amid US scrutiny Alaska extends period for Hawaiian Airlines acquisition

Shortages of new planes, jet engines and pilots have spurred US airlines to pursue growth through acquisitions, putting them in the crosshairs of anti-trust regulators

Biden may decide whether to remain in presidential race: Hawaii governor

President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, said Hawaii's governor who participated in a recent meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors and whose family has known the president for years. And if Biden decides not to run, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press on Saturday that he believes the president will designate Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn't run, Green said. If the president felt that he wasn't up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down." We'll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this, he said. Biden has repeatedly insisted that he will remain in the race against his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. But questions about Biden's mental acuity

Maui highlight steps toward rebuilding as 1-yr mark of wildfire approaches

Nearly a year after wind-whipped flames raced through Kim Ball's Hawaii community, the empty lot where his house once stood is a symbol of some of the progress being made toward rebuilding after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than century destroyed thousands of homes and killed 102 people in Lahaina. Welcome to the neighborhood, Ball said Wednesday as he greeted a van full of Hawaii reporters invited by Maui County officials to tour certain fire-ravaged sites. The gravel covering lots on his street in Lahaina indicate which properties have been cleared of debris and toxic ash in the months since the Aug. 8, 2023, blaze. On the lots along Komo Mai Street, there are pockets of green poking up through still visible charred vegetation. Speaking over the noise from heavy equipment working across the street, Ball described how he was able to get a building permit quickly, partly because his home was only about 5 years old and his contractor still had the plans. Ball wants to rebuild

Hawaii wildfire death toll hits 102 as another victim succumbs to injuries

The death toll from the deadliest US wildfire in over a century, which devastated the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui last year, has risen to 102, authorities said Monday. Claudette Heermance, 68, died in hospice care in Honolulu on March 28 of injuries suffered in the fire. The Maui Police Department announced the death, citing information from the Honolulu medical examiner's office. Heermance suffered burns on 20 per cent of her body and her case was complicated by multiple other conditions, said Dr. Masahiko Kobayashi, the Honolulu medical examiner. She was initially taken to Maui's hospital the day of the fire but was flown to Oahu the next day to be treated at the state's only burn unit. She entered hospice nearly four months later. Other causes of death included cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease and pressure ulcers, said another official from the medical examiner's office who refused to give her name. The August 8 wildfire was already th

Hawaii settles climate change lawsuit from youths: All you need to know

About two years after 13 children and teens sued Hawaii over the threat posed by climate change, both sides reached a settlement that includes an ambitious requirement to decarbonize the state's transportation system over the next 21 years. It's another example of a younger generation channeling their frustration with the government's response to the climate crisis into a legal battle. Navahine v. Hawaii Department of Transportation is the world's first youth-led constitutional climate case addressing climate pollution from the transportation sector, according to statements from both sides. The lawsuit said one plaintiff, a 14-year-old Native Hawaiian, was from a family that farmed taro for more than 10 generations. However, extreme droughts and heavy rains caused by climate change have reduced crop yields and threatened her ability to continue the cultural practice. The complaint said rising sea levels also threaten to put their lands underwater. Another plaintiff lost her home .

Maui fire dept to release after-action report on deadly Hawaii wildfires

The Maui Fire Department is expected to release a report Tuesday detailing how the agency responded to a series of wildfires that burned on the island during a windstorm last August including one that killed 101 people in the historic town of Lahaina and became the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. The release comes one day before the Hawaii Attorney General is expected to release the first phase of a separate comprehensive investigation about the events before, during and after the Aug. 8 fires. The reports could help officials understand exactly what happened when the wind-whipped fire overtook the historic Maui town of Lahaina, destroying roughly 3,000 properties and causing more than $5.5 billion in estimated damage, according to state officials. The Western Fire Chiefs Association produced the after-action report for the Maui Fire Department. After-action reports are frequently used by military organizations, emergency response agencies, government entities and .

US Navy plans to raise jet plane off Hawaii coral reef using cylinders

The U.S. Navy plans to use inflatable cylinders to lift and roll a jet plane off a coral reef in Hawaii before removal from the ocean waters where the aircraft crashed on November 20. Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 3 who is leading the salvage effort, said Friday he is confident the operation can be carried out without further damaging the reef. The P-8A slammed into an environmentally sensitive bay about 10 miles (16 kilometres) from Honolulu when it overshot the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. None of the nine people on board at the time were injured. The Navy is investigating the mishap. The Navy released underwater video on Wednesday showing landing gear wheels resting on parts of crushed coral and much of the rest of the plane floating above the reef in Kaneohe Bay. A Navy team already has removed nearly all of the estimated 2,000 gallons (7,500 litre) of fuel that was on the aircraft. Lenox said he expected the removal operation to get under

Congressional hearing on Maui wildfire to focus on island's electric grid

Hawaii's top public utility officials and the president of Hawaiian Electric are expected to testify Thursday in a congressional hearing about the role the electrical grid played in last month's deadly Maui wildfire. Members of a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee are expected to question the utility officials about how the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century began and whether the electrical grid in Lahaina was safe and properly maintained. The fire killed at least 97 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, mostly homes. It first erupted at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, when strong winds appeared to cause a Hawaiian Electric powerline to fall, igniting dry brush and grass near a large subdivision. Among those expected to testify are Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura, Hawaii Public Utilities Commission Chair Leodoloff Asuncion Jr. and Hawaii Chief Energy Officer Mark Glick. Energy and Commerce Committee chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Oversight and ...

How did Maui fire spread so quickly? Overgrown gully may be key to probe

Melted remains of an old car tire. Heavily burned trees. A charred stump of an abandoned utility pole. Investigators are examining these and other pieces of evidence as they seek to solve the mystery of last month's deadly Maui wildfire: How did a small, wind-whipped fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished flare up again hours later into a devastating inferno? The answer may lie in an overgrown gully beneath Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines and something that harboured smoldering embers from the initial fire before rekindling in high winds into a wall of flame that quickly overtook the town of Lahaina, destroying thousands of structures and killing at least 97 people. But as investigators sift through blackened debris to explain the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, one fact has become clear: Hawaiian Electric's right-of-way was untrimmed and unkempt for years, despite being in an area classified as being at high risk for wildfires. Aerial and ...

Maui fire missing list falls to 385, Guv indicated it would be below 100

The number of people on the official list of those missing from the Maui wildfire stood at 385 on Friday, nearly unchanged from a week earlier. In a news release, the Maui Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said 245 people on the list of 388 made public the previous week were located and removed from the list. However, a nearly equal number of new names were added. The updated total was a startling departure from what had been expected a day earlier Governor Josh Green said he had expected the number would fall below 100. We think the number has dropped down into the double digits, so thank God, Green said in a video posted to his account on X, formerly known as Twitter. Authorities have said at least 115 people died in the fire, which tore through Lahaina in a matter of hours on August 8 the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century. So far, the names of 50 people have been publicly released and five others have been identified

Officials release list of 'unaccounted' people after Maui wildfire

However, within a day of making the list public, at least 100 people were crossed off, after they were reported "safe and sound"

Hawaii officials urge families of missing people to give DNA samples

Authorities in Hawaii pleaded Tuesday with relatives of those missing after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples, saying the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes. Some 1,000 to 1,100 names remain on the FBI's tentative, unconfirmed list of people unaccounted for after wildfires destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina on Maui. But the family assistance centre so far has collected DNA from just 104 families, said Julie French, who is helping lead efforts to identify remains by DNA analysis. Maui Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin, who is running the centre, said that the number of family members coming in to provide DNA samples is a lot lower" than in other major disasters around the country, though it wasn't immediately clear why. That's our concern, that's why I'm here today, that's why I'm asking for this help, he said. Martin and French sought to reassur

Maui confronts challenge of finding those unaccounted for after deadly fire

Two weeks after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century swept through the Maui community of Lahaina, authorities say more than 800 people remain unaccounted for a staggering number that presents huge challenges for officials who are trying to determine how many of those perished and how many may have made it to safety but haven't checked in. Something similar happened after a wildfire in 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, California. Authorities in Butte County, home to Paradise, ultimately published a list of the missing in the local newspaper, a decision that helped identify scores of people who had made it out alive but were listed as missing. Within a month, the list dropped from 1,300 names to only a dozen. I probably had, at any given time, 10 to 15 detectives who were assigned to nothing but trying to account for people who were unaccounted for, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in a phone interview. At one point the local editor of ou

Federal govt will help Maui 'for as long as it takes' to recover: Joe Biden

President Joe Biden on Monday told survivors of Hawaii's wildfires that the nation grieves with you and promised that the federal government will help Maui for as long as it takes to recover after touring damage caused by the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century. Biden arrived in Maui 13 days after the wildfires that have taken at least 114 lives ravaged the western part of the island. Standing near a burned, but still standing, 150-year-old Banyon tree, the president acknowledged the overwhelming devastation but said that Maui would persevere through the tragedy. Today it's burned but it's still standing," Biden said of the tree. "The tree survived for a reason. I believe it's a very powerful symbol of what we can and will do to get through this crisis. Biden and first lady Jill Biden got a close look at the devastation wrought by the flames that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island, seeing for themselves the hollowed homes, structures, .

Immigrant workers' lives, jobs, documents in limbo after Hawaii fire

Freddy Tomas was working in his yard in Lahaina when the fire advanced with stunning speed right up to his fence. He rushed to save valuables from a safe inside his house but realised he didn't have time and fled, his face blackened with soot. Days after fleeing in his pickup truck, amid smoke so thick he could only follow the red taillights of the vehicle in front of him and pray they were going the right way, the retired hotel worker from the Philippines returned to his destroyed home with his son to look for the safe. Tomas, 65, said it had contained passports, naturalisation papers, other important documents and USD 35,000. After sifting through the ashes, father and son found the safe, but it had popped open in the fire, whipped by hurricane-force winds, and its contents were incinerated. For immigrants like Tomas, Lahaina was an oasis, with nearly double the foreign-born population of the US mainland. Now, those workers are trying to piece their lives back together after the

Maui's emergency services chief resigns amid criticism for no fire sirens

The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned abruptly Thursday, a day after saying he had no regret about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people. That decision from the agency directed by Administrator Herman Andaya, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles, has brought intense criticism from many residents. The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, and The Associated Press reported that it was part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos. Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons, with no further details provided. Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible, Bissen said in the

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