WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden is heading to Hawaii on Monday to see first-hand the damage from the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century.
The death toll surpassed 100 late Tuesday and authorities warned cadaver dogs had reached less than half the scorched homes and businesses.
Biden will meet with first responders, survivors, and federal, state, and local officials, the White House said.
“I want to go and make sure we got everything they need,” Biden said during a trip to Milwaukee Tuesday.
Search and rescue operations will still be ongoing but Biden will be visiting an area where he won’t affect those efforts, according to Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Some Republican lawmakers had criticized Biden for spending last weekend at his beach house in Delaware and not publicly addressing the growing tragedy following his initial comments last week.
The Lahaina fire, one of multiple blazes that began burning Aug. 8 on Maui, destroyed nearly every structure in that historic town.
“A whole city destroyed. Generations of Native Hawaiian history turned into ruin,” Biden said Tuesday. “Imagine being a mom or dad, wondering where your child is. Imagine being a husband or wife or mother or father. It’s really tough stuff.”
Residents said they had little or no warning in the hours and minutes before the fires swept through their neighborhoods.
Now at 106, the number of fatalities could double or even triple, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has said.
Green has said it will take “an incredible amount of time” for his state to recover.
Multiple federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency are helping with disaster relief and recovery efforts.
Contributing: John Bacon.
