Climate change: 'Apocalyptic' wildfires strike Hawaiian paradise
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Transcript
00:00 If anybody's still out here, it's time to go!
00:02 Running from boat to boat on Lahaina's pier
00:04 as the flames engulfed the historic town
00:07 and swept through the port.
00:09 Satellite images show that many of its buildings and boats
00:14 were reduced to ash.
00:16 This sailor said he was the last one off the dock.
00:18 The firestorm came through the Banyan tree
00:21 and took everything with it.
00:23 And I just ran out to the beach and I ran south
00:26 and I just helped everybody I could along the way.
00:29 Three wildfires killed several people
00:32 and burned down hundreds of structures on the island of Maui.
00:35 Fueled by the winds of Hurricane Dora
00:37 which passed south of the island
00:39 and was a normally safe distance of 800 kilometres away
00:43 the blazes left, according to pilots,
00:46 apocalyptic landscapes in their paths.
00:49 We were not prepared for what we saw.
00:52 What we saw looked like an area that had been bombed
00:56 and burned in a war zone.
00:59 The Coast Guard rescued over a dozen people
01:01 who were forced into the ocean to escape the flames.
01:04 Hurricane winds combined with dry grasslands
01:09 added to the blazes ferocity and speed.
01:12 So you have dry vegetation that is
01:15 when there's a spark it's easier for that vegetation to ignite
01:18 and for the wildfire to spread.
01:20 Climate change in many parts of the world
01:22 is increasing vegetation dryness.
01:26 Hawaii opened several shelters to house the up to 4,000 displaced.
01:31 And Maui's main airport was sheltering some 2,000 people
01:35 seeking to flee the island.