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| Biden offers contemptible $700 per household for survivors of Maui wildfires | |
| 2023-08-17 | |
| [World Socialist Website] As more facts about the death and destruction and what caused the Maui wildfires emerged, amid growing public outrage over the US government’s criminally inadequate response, President Joe Biden boasted on Tuesday of pathetic “one-time payments of $700 per household” for those who have lost everything in the disaster. Authorities reported on Tuesday that one-third of the burn area in the town of Lahaina had been searched for victims, and the number of confirmed dead had risen to 101. Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN on Monday evening that the number of confirmed deaths could double over the next 10 days. Maui County reported that just four of the sets of remains found have been identified so far. The identities of these individuals will be released after families have been notified. Among those who died were four members of the same family, who were engulfed while trying to escape the flames, according to a statement released to CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now. “On behalf of our family, we bid aloha to our beloved parents, Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, as well as our dear sister Salote Takafua and her son, Tony Takafua,” the statement read. Another victim, Franklin “Frankie” Trejos, 68, who had lived in Lahaina for 30 years, had tried to save his property, along with his friend and roommate, Perez Grant. Grant escaped the blaze while suffering burns, only to discover the remains of his friend several blocks away. The painstaking process of identifying the dead was highlighted when county investigators reported that they had obtained the DNA profiles of 13 more people, and a total of 41 DNA samples had been obtained from the family members of those who are unaccounted for. Meanwhile, there are still more than 1,000 people missing, and thousands more have been left homeless. Three climate change-fueled wildfires that began on August 8 were whipped into a firestorm by winds from passing Hurricane Dora, destroying the town of Lahaina. So far, an estimated 4.45 square miles has been burned. Two of the three fires are still burning, with firefighters working by ground and air to contain the blazes and looking for hot spots and flare-ups. Fire officials said the Lahaina fire, the largest of the three at 3.39 square miles, had been 85 percent contained by Tuesday. The Upcountry/Kula fire, which has burned just over a square mile and destroyed 19 homes, was 65 percent contained. On Tuesday, President Biden, who refused to comment on the devastation in Maui on Monday, expressed the indifference of the White House to the disaster while speaking to the media at a previously scheduled event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fumbling his way through an overview of the thoroughly inadequate response of federal authorities to the crisis on the Hawaiian island, Biden said FEMA authorized “one-time payments of $700 per household to those who have been displaced so they can do the immediate things,” like obtain the medications they need. He then announced that he and his wife would eventually travel to Maui to survey the damage, but gave no firm date for a trip. On a Twitter/X post earlier in the day, Biden claimed the administration was “laser-focused” on providing aid to survivors of the Maui wildfire, including the one-time payment, “during an unimaginably difficult time.”
Related: Maui: 2023-08-16 Consoler in chief? Lounge chair Biden revealing his true self on the beach Maui: 2023-08-16 Death toll in Hawaii fires rises to 99, and likely to increase, say officials Maui: 2023-08-14 Drone video shows Maui landscape scorched by deadly wildfires, President Biden mulling visit | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #14 The fire came within 3 miles of me. I only found that out later, and was astounded; I would have thought the wind would carry it in a different direction. I was without phone service of any kind for several hours on the 9th -- no landline, no cell. My internet was down for almost a week. (The horror, the horror!) If the tsunami sirens had sounded on the 9th -- I live above 3000 ft, but we have a tsunami siren -- it wouldn't have occurred to me to connect it to the fire. I would have thought, "All this, and a tsunami too??" |
| Posted by: Cochiti 2023-08-17 19:30 |
| #13 That people would go outside, see the fire, and run into it because that is what you expect of them. Take a seat you curr. I live in upcountry Maui, and the cur is right. You set off the sirens. People know that usually means a long lead time until arrival of the tsunami. They will probably not just start running. They'll pack a few things, get in their cars, and try to get to higher ground. Then they see the fire ahead of them. But now you have a traffic jam of people who are all headed toward the fire. Sirens are a low-information warning, good for alerting to a threat with a known source and requiring a known action. When there's a tsunami warning the threat comes from the ocean; get away from it. A tornado warning means a threat comes from the sky; get indoors to shelter. A fire warning means...what? Which way is the fire? If you already know there's a fire, you don't need the siren to tell you. This is not to argue for the competence of any officials, but he is right about this one. |
| Posted by: Cochiti 2023-08-17 19:18 |
| #12 Hey look, all this discussion about whose fault it was, which government agency screwed up, what Biden did or didn't do, is all moot. Face it, the entire disaster is all Trump's fault. He should be indicted for that. /sarcasm |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2023-08-17 17:17 |
| #11 If only they had a student loan problem instead of a natural disaster, I'm sure Biden would have been more generous. |
| Posted by: Angstrom 2023-08-17 17:02 |
| #10 Actually it's only $630... |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2023-08-17 16:59 |
| #9 And if you missed it yesterday, the 'tin foil' I came across said prepare for 500+. Largely children. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-08-17 13:26 |
| #8 as fears grow majority of dead were children left home alone with schools closed Was afraid that would be true. 'Had we sounded the siren that night, we're afraid that people would have gotten mauka [toward the mountains] and if that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,' he said. You fucking dog, hiding behind your words. It is what you say when you consider individuals to be a group of automatons. That people would go outside, see the fire, and run into it because that is what you expect of them. Take a seat you curr. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-08-17 13:25 |
| #7 Woke Hawaiian Official Stalled Release Of 'Revered Water' Until It Was Too Late To Save Maui. Spoiler alert: Obama tie-in. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-08-17 10:59 |
| #6 I hope the go fund me money is going to the local people and not the government agencies 'helping' them I agree with Pan, Hearing many locals reporting on Twitter/X how they aren't getting any help, FEMA turning many away or not seeing helicopters bringing in supplies is quite different from what the news is reporting. Offers coming in to BUY their land rather than help them REBUILD? |
| Posted by: Jan 2023-08-17 10:54 |
| #5 They should claim Ukrainian citizenship. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2023-08-17 09:03 |
| #3 Biden Finally Speaks on Hawaii and Botches It Badly |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-08-17 08:51 |