IN PHOTOS: Nearly a week after Maui wildfire, islanders survey aftermath, look ahead to recovery
The wildfire that swept across Maui nearly a week ago turned one of the nation’s most celebrated island vistas into an ashen moonscape and killed at least 99 people, a number that officials warn could rise by scores as the search continues.
The deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century devoured homes and businesses, blackened cars and left only ruins where thriving neighborhoods once stood. In some places, the flames advanced as fast as a car at highway speed — a mile a minute.
The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. When the flames were out and the smoke cleared, all that remained was a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.
Now begins a long recovery as survivors mourn the dead, search teams look for more victims in the charred debris and families try to begin anew.
The cause of the Maui wildfire is under investigation. Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the flames raced through parched brush covering the island.
The fire was Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. A tsunami in 1946 killed more than 150 on the Big Island.
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Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
People watch as smoke and flames fill the air from raging wildfires on Front Street in downtown Lahaina, Maui on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (Alan Dickar via AP)
The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)
This photo provided by County of Maui shows fire and smoke filling the sky from wildfires on the intersection at Hokiokio Place and Lahaina Bypass in Maui, Hawaii on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP)
People gather at the Kahului Airport while waiting for flights Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. Several thousand Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as the Lahaina fire swept across the island, killing multiple people and burning parts of a centuries-old town. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities is left on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following a stubborn blaze. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Summer Gerlingpicks up her piggy bank found in the rubble of her home following the wildfire Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Myrna Ah Hee reacts as she waits in front of an evacuation center at the War Memorial Gymnasium, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Wailuku, Hawaii. The Ah Hees were there because they were looking for her husband’s brother. Their own home in Lahaina was spared, but the homes of many of their relatives were destroyed by wildfires. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Thomas Leonard lies on an air mattress at an evacuation center at the War Memorial Gymnasium after his Lahaina apartment burned down, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Wailuku, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Maui wildfire devastation is seen outside the city Lahaina, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A banyan tree rises among the Wildfire wreckage, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. For 150 years, the colossal tree shaded community events, including art fairs. It shaded townsfolk and tourists alike from the Hawaiian sun, befitting for a place once called “Lele,” the Hawaiian word for “relentless sun.” Like the town itself, its very survival is now in question, its limbs scorched by a devastating fire that has wiped away generations of history. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A burnt coconut tree is seen, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
An owl sits in a burnt tree, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Burnt boats sit in waters off of Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
In this photo released by the County of Maui, Mayor Richard Bissen and other officials view the fire damaged Banyan Court in Lahaina, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (County of Maui via AP)
A man reacts as he sits on the Lahaina historic banyan tree damaged by the Maui wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Members of a search-and-rescue team walk along a street, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following heavy damage caused by wildfire. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A member of the search and rescue team walks with her cadaver dog near Front Street on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following heavy damage caused by wildfires. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Wildfire wreckage is shown Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Women hug after digging through rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
People walk along Main Street past wildfire damage on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A man walks through wildfire wreckage Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A boy rides along Main Street past wildfire damage on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A woman digs through rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A man and dog ride along Main Street past wildfire damage, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Sydney Carney walks through her home, which was destroyed by a wildfire, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Melted beer bottles are shown in the back of a burnt out truck following Maui wildfires last Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A burnt statue sits amid the rubble of a home, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Destroyed homes and cars are shown, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
JP Mayoga, right, a chef at the Westin Maui, Kaanapali, and his wife, Makalea Ahhee, hug on their balcony at the hotel and resort, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, near Lahaina, Hawaii. About 200 employees are living there with their families. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A group of volunteers who sailed from Maalaea Bay, Maui, form an assembly line on Kaanapali Beach on Saturday Aug. 12, 2023, to unload donations from a boat. Maui residents have come together to donate water, food and other essential supplies to people on the western side of the island after a deadly fire destroyed hundreds of homes and left scores of people homeless. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the deadliest blaze in the U.S. in recent years. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Maui Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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