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Search intensifies in Maui for the dead

LAHAINA, Hawaii - Hawaii officials worked painstakingly to identify the 99 people confirmed killed in wildfires that ravaged Maui and expected to release the first names Tuesday, even as teams intensified the search for more dead in neighborhoods reduced to ash.

A week after a blaze tore through historic Lahaina, many who survived have started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals.

Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 25% of the search area, the police chief said Monday. Gov. Josh Green asked for patience and space to do the search properly as authorities became overwhelmed with requests to visit the burn area.

“For those people who have walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they’re very likely walking on iwi,” he said at a news conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for “bones.”

Just three bodies have been identified so far and officials will start releasing names on Tuesday, according to Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who renewed an appeal for families with missing relatives to provide DNA samples.

Green warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires, some of which have not yet been fully contained, are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The cause was under investigation.

Authorities paused a system that had allowed Lahaina residents and others to visit devastated areas with police permits. Kevin Eliason said when he was turned away, the line of cars with people waiting to get a placard had grown to at least 3 miles long.

“It’s a joke,” Eliason said. “It’s just crazy. They didn’t expect, probably, tens of thousands of people to show up there.”

The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire has been 65% contained.

Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. That has left hundreds unable to return home.

The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters on Monday, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Green said that thousands of people will need housing for at least 36 weeks.

More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number was expected to grow.

“We’re not taking anything off the table, and we’re going to be very creative in how we use our authorities to help build communities and help people find a place to stay for the longer term,” agency administrator Deanne Criswell said.

FEMA has started to provide $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies. The money is in addition to whatever amount residents qualify for to cover the loss of homes and personal property.

The Biden administration is seeking $12 billion more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

Meanwhile, the local power utility has faced criticism for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire. It’s not clear whether the utility’s equipment played any role in igniting the flames.

J.P. Mayoga, right, a chef at the Westin Maui, Kaanapali, and his partner, 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. Officials urge tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels prepare to house evacuees and first responders on the island where a wildfire demolished a historic town and killed dozens of people. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The charred remains of a vehicle sit near a wildfire-destroyed home Monday in Kula, Hawaii. The same day a wildfire ripped through Lahaina, one tore through Kula, as well. AP PHOTO/RICK BOWMER
Attendees embrace during a church service at King's Cathedral in Kahului on the island of Maui, Hawaii Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. The church has been converted into an emergency shelter and destruction center since the devastating wildfires that affected multiple regions on the island. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Pauwela Store owner Justin Kriegh, right, unloads cases of water as a chain of volunteers load supplies onto a boat for West Maui at the Kihei boat landing, after a wildfire destroyed much of the historical town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, Hawaii Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Destroyed property is seen, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following a deadly wildfire that caused heavy damage days earlier. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Parishioners attend Mass at Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Sacred Hearts Mission Church hosted congregants from Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina, including several people who lost family members in fires that burned most of the Maui town days earlier. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
A burnt tree stands in front of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Kula, Hawaii. Kula was ravaged by a wildfire the same day one ripped through Lahaina. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A tub rests in the middle of a wildfire-destroyed home Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Kula, Hawaii. The same day a wildfire ripped through Lahaina, one tore through Kula, as well. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Front Street is seen on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following a deadly wildfire. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)