The toll of destruction is heavy, stands at 80 dead, but is considered temporary.

Deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui are drawing criticism for the authorities’ handling of the largest disaster in the modern history of the American archipelago.

Residents are in shock. They are just beginning to realize the extent of the devastation at the burning resort of Lahaina.

“Everything was destroyed, everything. My heart was breakingy,” says 80-year-old Anthony Garcia, who has chosen Lahaina as his home for 30 years. All around him, survivors search through the ashes in hopes of finding photos or artifacts.

From the shops, hotels and restaurants that gave the character of the resort state of the 13,000 inhabitants, almost nothing remains.

During the nightmare, the residents were only able to rely on the information “by word of mouth“, complains William Harry, one of the residents.

Amidst this landscape of devastation, residents try to understand how this tragedy could have reached such proportions. So did the judiciary, ordering an investigation into the management of the crisis by the local authorities.

Maui experienced multiple power outages during the crisis, and the 911 emergency number stopped working on some parts of the island, while fire alarm sirens did not activate.

The warnings, usually transmitted by telephone, were not received because “there was no network” and “it is clear that we had not foreseen measures to protect the safety of the residents“, Jill Tokunda, a member of the House of Representatives, admitted speaking to CNN today.

“We underestimated the danger and speed of the fire,” he said. “We have to improve».

The provisional death toll of 80 surpasses the 1960 tsunami toll of 61 that hit Hawaii.

Undoubtedly in Hawaii the countdown is not over. Search and rescue teams, aided by trained dogs, have arrived on Maui to search for victims.

Firefighters were forced to tackle a large number of fires at once, fueled by Hurricane Dora’s strong winds.

Faced with the speed of the fire, those residents of Lahaina who managed to escape ran without looking back and some jumped into the sea to escape the flames. The fire was fierce”like hell“, recounts Ekolou Brayden Hoapili, inconsolable that he was forced “to leave people behind».

According to the Federal Disaster Management Agency (Fema), about 2,207 buildings, mostly residences, were destroyed or damaged.

In the city of Lahaina alone, the cost of rebuilding is estimated at $5.52 billion.

The devastating fires accompany a summer marked by a series of extreme weather events across the globe, such as heat waves that have hit the southern United States and are linked to climate change.

On the island of Maui, the flames found fertile ground, since this year was characterized by less rainfall than the previous ones. The western part of the island, where Lahaina is located, is experiencing “severe to moderate” drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.