At least 53 individuals have died following devastating wildfires in Hawaii – with the state’s governor describing it as a “heart-breaking day”.

Speaking at a news convention, Josh Green stated this was “likely the largest natural disaster” within the state’s historical past.

He warned that the variety of fatalities will rise additional, and can most likely surpass the 61 lives misplaced after a tsunami in 1960.

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“What we’ve seen today has been catastrophic, but we tell you there’s going to be a team effort to bring our state back,” Mr Green instructed reporters.

He added that many a whole bunch of properties have been destroyed – and 1000’s of persons are in want of non permanent lodging.

The county of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen addressed these whose properties haven’t been broken by the fires however who’ve been evacuated.

“I know the question on your mind is: When can I get back to my home?,” he stated, urging individuals to attend till “we have recovered those that have perished”.

“Please allow us to complete this process before we allow people back into their homes,” Mr Bissen stated.

Hundreds of properties have been destroyed and Governor Green says the 1000’s of individuals displaced would require housing.

The state is initially searching for 2,000 rooms to accommodate them, and can attain out to motels.

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‘We were totally shocked by what we saw’

But Mr Green has additionally known as for anybody with spare rooms throughout the island of Maui to open up their properties to these needing shelter.

“If you have additional space in your home, if you have the capacity to house somebody… please consider bringing those people into your lives,” Green stated.

Fire chief Brad Ventura stated that not one of the fires had been utterly contained.

He stated many small fires had additionally appeared forcing his firefighters to “triage” assets.

“It’s still very very hazardous… things are falling every minute around us, and there have been some people that have been hurt,” he added.

Police chief John Pelletier believes that round 1,000 individuals had been lacking, he added that energy outages had been making it laborious to contact and discover individuals.

Fuelled by a dry summer time and powerful winds from a passing hurricane, the fireplace began on Tuesday and took Maui unexpectedly, racing by means of parched development protecting the island after which feasting on properties and anything that lay in its path.