The storm, internationally known as Dora, started in the East Pacific, and is expected to enter the Northwest Pacific on August 12 and become the 8th active storm of 2023 in the region.
Hurricane Dora originated from a low pressure area in the central United States. The depression then entered the East Pacific Ocean and developed into a storm.
According to AP, the wind speed of 128 km/h from storm Dora was one of the reasons for the widespread forest fires on Maui Island in Hawaii. Meanwhile, the emergency alarm system appears to be down.
The death toll from forest fires in Maui, Hawaii (USA) as of August 11 has reached at least 55 people and may increase, recovery will take many years.
Maui residents who were desperate to escape the fire wondered why Hawaii's emergency horn was not working as the fire spread to their homes. According to Hawaii's emergency management records, there is no sign that the fire warning system has been activated.
Hawaii is proud to have the world's largest single outdoor public safety warning system, with about 400 alarm bells deployed across the island chain. But many survivors of the historic town of Lahaina - the tourism and economic hub of Maui in the western part of the island - said they did not hear any alarm bells and only recognized themselves as in danger when they saw fire or heard explosions nearby.
Thomas Leonard, a 70-year-old pensioner in Lahaina, was unaware of the fire until he smelled the smoke. Both electricity and mobile phone services were down early that day, leaving the town without real-time information about the danger. He tried to leave by Jeep, but had to abandon his vehicle and flee to sea when nearby cars started exploding.
Spokesperson for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Adam Weintraub, noted that the agency's records did not show that Maui's alarm was activated on August 8. Instead, emergency warnings are sent via mobile phones, televisions and radios. It is unclear whether those warnings were issued before widespread power outages and mobile phone outages cut off much of contact with Lahaina.
Amid dry summers and strong winds from a storm, fires that broke out on August 8 surprised Maui, quickly seeping into the dry bushes that covered the island and then burning down his home and anything else on its path.
On the morning of August 10, Governor Hawaii Josh Green said that up to 1,700 buildings may have been destroyed in the fire and that "about 80% of Lahaina appears to have disappeared".
The forest fire has been Hawaii's most dangerous natural disaster since the 1960 Tsunami, which killed 61 people. This fire is also the deadliest forest fire in the US since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed and devastated the town of Paradise.
The risk of forest fires in Lahaina has been warned for many years. Maui's risk mitigation plan - last updated in 2020 - has identified Lahaina and other communities in West Maui as frequent sites of forest fires and a large number of buildings at risk of damage due to forest fires.
Bobby Lee - Chairman of the Hawaii Fire Association - said that Hawaii only has a maximum of 65 firefighters working at any time on Maui and they are responsible for fighting the fire on three islands - Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
Firefighters have about 13 fire trucks and two ladder trucks, but all of them are designed for normal road use, with none of them for harsh terrain.
That means firefighters cannot extinguish the fire completely before the fires reach roads or densely populated areas. The strong winds caused by storm Dora made firefighting extremely difficult.
Basically, you are dealing with a spark. You have to be careful or you will get caught in the fire" - Bobby Lee said.
