The island of Maui has absolutely been devastated by the wildfires that devoured the historic area of Lahaina.

The area, long beloved by natives and tourists alike, has been turned to ash.

Estimates of the damages runs into the billions, and the loss of life has now made this the deadliest wildfire in a hundred years in the United States.

Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.”

“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” noting that the death toll is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.”

He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains.”

Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart … When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal.” Two people have been identified so far, he said.”

The death toll currently stands at 93, but sadly, there will be more.

The newly released death toll surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.”

And while Hawaii’s Democrat governor, Josh Green, would like to blame “climate change” for the disaster, he also has no explanation why the warning sirens did not go off.

Green also responded to criticism about the island’s siren system failing to warn residents of the approaching fire in time for them to escape.”

Thousands of residents fled the town, with video showing some jumping into the Pacific Ocean to escape the inferno.”

The governor said officials are looking into whether enough was done to get the sirens activated in time, noting there was mass destruction of telecommunications during the wildfire.”

“Otherwise, we ourselves would have communicated like we always do within seconds on our cellphones,” Green said, adding that “we’ll make sure we get to all the answers that people deserve.”

According to Politico, the Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate that the sirens ever went off. Due to the hurricane force winds, cell towers were likely blown down before the fire even started. While no direct cause for the wildfires has been identified, it doesn’t take much imagination to think that the Category 4 winds of Hurricane Dora easily could have knocked down power lines, sparking a fire that was then spread with insane rapidity by those same winds. And if electricity and cell phone towers are down, how does an emergency alert system actually manage to alert people?

The people of Maui are in desperate need. Thousands are now in shelters, schools have burned down, homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. And being an island, Maui is now struggling with supply chain issues, as shelves have been emptied of needed items and those providing emergency services are now waiting for supplies to arrive via plane or boat.

And in the middle of all of this, the Biden-Harris administration is looking to send $24 billion… to Ukraine. (insert record scratch here) Yes, you are reading that right. Lahaina burned down on Tuesday, August 8th, and additional spots on Maui were still burning when the administration announced on August 10th that they would be proposing a new aid package for Ukraine on the 11th.

The request – which includes more than $13 billion in security assistance and $7.3 billion for economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine – sets up a potential battle with Republicans in Congress, some of whom voice skepticism about providing Ukraine any more money. As a counteroffensive wears on and prospects of the war concluding soon appear slim, the funding will act as evidence of whether US support for Ukraine can be sustained.”

The new funding request, which will be unveiled later Thursday, will be paired with a $12 billion request for new funding for disaster relief, potentially sweetening the package for skeptical Republicans who have voiced concern about approving more Ukraine aid.”

It also includes $3.3 billion meant to fund infrastructure in countries affected by the Russian invasion, an attempt at preventing coercive Chinese lending from taking hold in those nations. And it includes $4 billion in funding for border security.”

In total, the supplemental request adds up to roughly $40 billion.”

Yeah, that $12 billion in disaster relief funding? That’s for the entire country to divide up, not specifically for Maui. And it will take BILLIONS for Maui to recover. But the Biden administration has gone missing on this disaster. You would think that after the lesson of East Palestine, the administration would be more aware of the optics when disasters occur. At the time, there was a general assumption that the administration simply wasn’t going to make an effort to reach out to a “red” state. Well, Hawaii is a very “blue” state. And where are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

VP Kamala Harris says she wants to go to Hawaii after the wildfires, but she wants “to do whatever’s in the best interest of the folks on the ground. We don’t want to distract from resources that need to go into the victims … because we’re there.” pic.twitter.com/zHnbtHAzui

— The Recount (@therecount) August 11, 2023

That’s a decently reasonable answer from Kamala Harris, but that was Friday, before the death toll had risen so horribly. So, what does Joe Biden, a man who bragged on his “empathy” and “compassion” during the 2020 election, have to say about Maui?

After a couple hours on the Rehoboth beach, @potus was asked about the rising death toll in Hawaii

“No comment,” he said before heading home pic.twitter.com/Y0UmXirju9

— Justin Sink (@justinsink) August 13, 2023

“No comment”??? People are DEAD, and Joe Biden can’t even scrape up enough of his alleged empathy to say anything but “no comment”??? As someone with friends living on Maui, who are safe but working with relief efforts (my friend is a nurse), my rage is palpable. The kindest thing you could possibly say about Joe Biden in that moment is that his staff hadn’t briefed him, or given him a cue card to work off of in order to answer questions about Maui. And that is the KINDEST interpretation.

The other, more realistic interpretation is the one that we have been seeing of the ugly and venal old man who couldn’t be bothered to go to East Palestine, who kept checking his watch while Gold Star Families watched the dignified transfer of their loved ones, who then insulted those same Gold Star Families by assuming stolen valor on behalf of Beau Biden, and who rejected his own granddaughter until it was a political liability. THAT is “President Empathy.”

This shit by Biden is exactly how Trump wins again. https://t.co/iaNsXwIsDK

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 14, 2023

Wait a minute, I could have sworn the press cared about a lack of empathy during disasters!

A Republican president would have been Katrina’d by the Media by now. https://t.co/i5gZzUoheQ pic.twitter.com/ShdSURCdE2

— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) August 14, 2023

Oh that’s right, it has to be a REPUBLICAN president. You see, the media simply assumes that Democrats are kind and compassionate and empathetic, even when Bitter Old Man Biden presents them with all evidence to the contrary, so of course there are no headlines from mainstream media about how cruel and callous Biden’s response was.

The White House, in between shots of whatever hard liquor they have on hand (and whatever cocaine just gets “left behind”), will probably be crafting some kind of response today about how of COURSE the president cares about the people of Maui, and of COURSE there will be disaster aid (and mounds and mounds of FEMA paperwork) for those who have lost homes and jobs and businesses, and of COURSE the media will just nod like bobbleheads and agree.

Here’s some free advice for all GOP candidates – start hammering Joe Biden on this very issue. The administration is more concerned about giving aid to Ukraine than they are about providing aid to American citizens in Maui. Some fundraising for Maui would also help a lot. Donald Trump went to East Palestine and won accolades for it. I don’t think he should go to Maui for logistical reasons, but a plane full of supplies would be a smart and welcome gesture. But the first Republican debate is in a little over a week. If the candidates who are present aren’t spending their time pounding on Joe Biden’s lack of compassion for anyone who doesn’t have the last name Biden, and spend their time attacking each other instead, it will be a missed opportunity. Biden’s “brand” has a giant hole blown in it with his own smug and condescending corruption. Every chance they get, Republicans need to be putting this administration on full blast.

In the meantime, Maui needs help. There are many organizations who are accepting donations for Maui relief, including the Salvation Army, and the Aloha Diaper Bank’s Maui Pantry. As always, do your research before donating. The devastation and heartbreak on Maui is real, it’s gut-wrenching, and it will take years and billions of dollars to repair and restore Lahaina and the other areas. But nothing can ever bring back the lives lost and the history lost. If you can, lend a hand. It’s more than Joe Biden (a noted charity cheapskate) has done or will do.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click