Officials in Maui estimate that at least 1,000 to 1,100 people are still missing following the deadly wildfires that ripped through the island earlier this month, Breitbart reported. There is some hope as 1,400 people previously listed as missing were found alive and well.
The county said Tuesday that authorities are working on the recovery effort, which could shift the counts of the missing and dead. "Both numbers are expected to fluctuate for the foreseeable future as additional reports of unaccounted for individuals are submitted..." Maui County wrote in an update.
It further stated that people looking for missing individuals should go through the Maui Police Department (MPD). Anyone found who was previously listed as missing should be reported to the FBI.
"If you have already submitted complaints to the Maui Police Department about a missing person, or to the FBI, or anyone else, please follow back up to ensure that they have the most up-to-date and accurate information, including dates of birth, what they look like, who they’re related to, further contact information," Steven Merrill, the FBI special agent in charge, said in the county's memo. This will help law enforcement properly focus its efforts.
Local and federal agencies are still working to locate those thought to be missing in the aftermath of the wildfire that has killed at least 115 people. Officials have been slow to notify family members, however.
Only 43 of the deceased have been identified, and the families of roughly half of that number have been notified. On Tuesday, the MPD publicized the names of eight victims whose families were told of the fate of their loved ones.
Seven of the eight were from the hard-hit Lahaina fire. Amid this horrific news that continues to yield more anguish by the day, President Joe Biden took the opportunity to talk about himself.
After waiting weeks to visit Hawaii to survey the damage, Biden finally made his way to Maui only to compare the smoldering town of Lahaina to a kitchen fire his family supposedly endured. Reports at the time stated it was a small kitchen fire that lasted about 20 minutes, but that didn't deter him.
"I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, of what it was like to lose a home," Biden claimed from the Lahaina Civic Center Monday, according to Fox News. "Years ago, now 15 years, I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the Press.'" he recalled.
"Lightning struck at home on a little lake outside the home. Not a lake, a big pond. It hit the wire and came up underneath our home, into the … air condition ducts," Biden rambled.
"To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my '67 Corvette, and my cat," he said in front of people mourning family members. Biden has a habit of doing this, and many on social media were quick to call him out for it.
"People were literally melted to the sidewalk, and Biden’s out here trying to compare that to a kitchen fire he had one time," John Cooper, a Republican political strategist, tweeted. "Absolutely disgusting."
Biden often does this in an attempt to appear empathetic, but the practice is actually narcissistic. "People have mistaken self-centeredness for empathy for decades," New York Post Columnist Miranda Devine lamented in a tweet.
This devastating tragedy should be spoken of with reverence and care, especially to the people directly impacted by it. Instead, Biden turned other people's pain into a chance to talk about himself, and it's just disgraceful.
