The death toll from a horrific wildfire in Hawaii climbed to 80 as residents confronted the devastation and criticisms grew Saturday over the emergency response.
Over 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed in the fire, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said, estimating that it would cost some $5.5 billion to rebuild affected communities.
Hawaiian authorities said they were opening a probe into the handling of the fire as a congresswoman from the state's Big Island acknowledged that officials had underestimated the dangers.
In the historic resort city of Lahaina on the island of Maui, resident Anthony Garcia said the fire had gutted the apartment he was renting and destroyed all his belongings and memories.
"It took everything, everything! It's heartbreaking," the 80-year-old California native, who has lived in Lahaina for three decades, told AFP. "It's a lot to take in."
The town of 12,000, once the proud home of the Hawaiian royal family, has been reduced to ruins, its lively hotels and restaurants turned to ashes.
A majestic banyan tree that has been the centre of the community for 150 years has been scarred by the flames but still stands upright, its branches denuded of green and its sooty trunk transformed into an awkward skeleton.
Hawaii's Attorney General Anne Lopez said her office would examine "critical decision-making and standing policies leading up to, during and after the wildfires on Maui and Hawaii islands this week."
Late Friday, Maui County officials revised the death toll to 80 and Governor Josh Green warned that the number of fatalities was sure to rise further. Over 1,400 people were in emergency evacuation shelters.
"We underestimated the lethality, the quickness of fire," Hawaii Congresswoman Jill Tokuda told CNN on Saturday morning. Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cellphones -- something, Tokuda said, officials should have prepared for.
"We have got to make sure that we do better," she added.
The fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave baking the US southwest.
Europe and parts of Asia have also endured soaring temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc. Scientists have said global warming caused by carbon emissions is contributing to extreme weather.