Biden to visit wildfire-stricken Maui on Monday as wildfire toll tops 100
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Supplies being distributed to those evacuated from Lahaina, the Hawaiian town devastated by wildfires, at a volunteer-run centre in Maui on Aug 12.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Maui
Mr Biden plans to meet with state and local leaders and discuss steps to aid in the recovery effort, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday announcing the trip.
“The president continues to marshal a whole-of-government response to the deadly Maui fires, and he has committed to delivering everything that the people of Hawaii need from the federal government as they recover from this disaster,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement.
Governor Josh Green has repeatedly warned that the final toll from last week’s inferno, which levelled the historic town of Lahaina, would grow significantly, urging Hawaiians to anticipate a number that could be two or three times its present level of 106.
The White House has faced pressure over whether Mr Biden would travel to Maui since this weekend when he was asked about the rising death toll while vacationing at the beach in Delaware.
Mr Biden told reporters “no comment”, before heading home, a remark that sparked criticism from Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, the GOP primary frontrunner.
More than 100 people have been killed in Hawaii,
Mr Biden sought to tamp down on the controversy on Tuesday, addressing it before a speech on the Inflation Reduction Act and his economic agenda in Milwaukee. He said he was waiting for the right time to visit the island and did not want to distract from the ongoing search efforts there.
“That’s what I’ve been talking to the governor about. I don’t want to get in the way,” he said. “I’ve been to too many disaster areas. But I want to go, make sure we got everything they need. Want to be sure we don’t disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts.”
“We’ll be there in Maui as long as it takes,” Mr Biden said.
The controversy has overshadowed the president’s plans to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive climate, tax and health-care Bill that the White House has touted as the most significant US investment in clean-energy and combating global warming.
The announcement of his trip to Hawaii came just hours before Mr Biden hosts an event marking the law’s anniversary at the White House.
The president often speaks about the kilometres of land destroyed by wildfires he has surveyed during his time in office, citing it as an example of the extreme weather events being caused by climate change. BLOOMBERG
