The city of Lahaina in central Hawaii has so far been hardest hit by the large wildfires caused by Hurricane Dora in this American state.
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This historic, commercial, and tourist center of Hawaii has been largely decimated, according to multiple images taken by helicopter that show entire neighborhoods charred.
Screenshot | CNN
“It happened so quickly,” says a local resident, Claire Kent, in an interview with CNN. I heard the first gas station explosions, then saw smoke a few blocks from my house. 30 minutes later we evacuated.
“It’s like a horror movie,” she adds.
Screenshot | CNN
Authorities’ work to evacuate the city was complicated by a widespread outage in communications services, including the 911 emergency number.
Screenshot | CNN
At least 36 people died and many more were injured in the city.
Authorities in Lahaina have identified at least 271 damaged buildings, according to AFP.
Screenshot | CNN
“We weren’t ready to see that, it broke our hearts,” another resident, Richie Olsten, told CNN. It’s just destroyed. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.
While the fire hasn’t been contained yet, weaker winds are expected on Thursday giving authorities hope they can make progress in extinguishing it.