President Biden emphasizes repeatedly that the rebuilding would follow the wishes of the people of Lahaina and lauds the strong sense of community he had seen during his visit
on Monday, August 21, praised the “remarkable resiliency” of the people of Maui, after wildfires killed more than 114 people on the Hawaiian island nearly two week ago, and said America would stand by them for as long as it takes.
He emphasized repeatedly that the rebuilding would follow the wishes of the people of Lahaina and lauded the strong sense of community he had seen during his visit. In both remarks, the president recounted his own grief when a vehicle accident killed his first wife and young daughter and said he recognized what Maui people were feeling – “that hollow feeling you have in your chest like you’re being sucked into a black hole.”
Many onlookers greeted the Bidens with the shaka, a hand gesture of thumb and little finger extended that signals aloha, a Hawaiian word that is often used as a greeting. A handful of other people held up raised middle fingers. She said Biden was always focused on “the human experience” during disasters like this and frustrated by government bureaucracy, adding the president was also concerned about the need to remove hazardous waste from the affected area.
The wind-whipped firestorm that raged through Lahaina in west Maui killed at least 114 people and the death toll is still mounting. The number of people officially believed missing is now 850, down from over 2,000, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said overnight on Facebook.
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