Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sánchez have stepped forward to make a major donation towards helping forest fire relief efforts on the beautiful island of Maui.
The power couple have pledged a staggering $100 million to support the ongoing battle against devastating wildfires that have wreaked havoc across the region.
Officials estimate that about 1,000 people are missing and the death toll at about 80, as the emergency made it “impossible” to warn the islanders.
Read on to learn more.
Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez Pledge $100m To Help Maui
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Bezos and his partner Sanchez have pledged to help in the relief effort and return to normality for the island of Hawaii after it was ravaged by wildfires.
Sanchez took to his Instagram page to reveal that they are “saddened by what happened in Maui” and that they plan to donate $100 million to relief efforts on the island.
“We are thinking of all the families who have lost so much and the communities that have been devastated. The immediate needs are important, and so is the long-term rebuilding that needs to happen – even after much of the attention has died down,” he said.
Sanchez added, “Jeff and I are creating the Maui Fund and dedicating $100 million to help Maui get back on its feet now and throughout the coming years as ongoing needs reveal themselves.”
1000 People Reported Missing
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Amidst the ongoing devastation caused by wildfires in Maui, distressing reports have emerged indicating that an estimated 1,000 people are currently missing, where they are unaccounted for amid the chaos, each Many people.
The total loss of 1000 was given by Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier, however, he warned that “we honestly don’t know.”
“It does not mean that the amount we have has passed. I did not mention the number at all,” he added during a press conference Thursday. “But because we can’t get to them, and because they can’t get into the larger valley as quickly or as we want, because they’re actually in the shelter until we get some of those basic things ready. , we won’t have that number.”
Authorities also expressed their frustration at the challenge of providing timely warnings to those in affected areas, highlighting the difficulty of reaching every individual in the face of rapidly spreading wildfires.
The death toll is expected to rise
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Hawaii’s governor, Governor Josh Green, issued a dire warning that the current death toll from devastating wildfires is expected to rise as rescue and recovery operations continue in areas previously inaccessible due to several ongoing wildfires, each Many people.
“We are seeing loss of life,” Governor Green said during his press conference on Thursday. “We will continue to see loss of life,” adding that the fire was “the greatest emergency we have seen in decades.”
With the scale of the devastation becoming more apparent, the challenges facing emergency services and search teams are immense.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen noted that none of the destroyed structures in the resort town of Lahaina were left standing because they were all destroyed by wildfires.
“I’m telling you, there’s none there. Everything burned to the ground,” said Mayor Bissen, adding that it was “physically impossible” to notify emergency management agencies in time.
Hawaii Wildfire Threat ‘Underestimated’
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Recent revelations have revealed that Hawaii may have underestimated the deadly threat posed by wildfires, according to records. The devastation caused by wildfires has prompted scrutiny of state fire preparedness measures and response strategies, each CNN.
Hawaii officials conducted a report last year on the types of natural disasters most likely to affect residents, where tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic hazards are more significant, but the risk of wildfires was marked “low.”
The news outlet also reported that the island is not prepared for the possibility of forest fires because the funds to prevent and mitigate them are “insufficient.”
According to the publication, the county fire department’s plan was nothing but “significant distortions” that included “nothing about what could and should have been done to prevent fires.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/