Not long after Maui’s disaster chief explained why he didn’t trigger the island’s alarm system during the devastating wildfires that killed over 100 people, he resigned. The remarks were brutal, where he explained his decision-making behind the lack of sirens, essentially saying that the people who perished would have died anyway (via NBC News):
Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya today defended the decision not to activate emergency sirens warning #Maui residents and visitors about the wildfires. Here's a clip from the press conference.
— Star-Advertiser (@StarAdvertiser) August 17, 2023
Details: https://t.co/0m3zSd9QmD #HInews #StarAdvertiser pic.twitter.com/lSe3iM6flj
Maui's top emergency management official resigned Thursday, one day after he defended his decision not to sound warning sirens as wildfires swept across the island.
The resignation of Herman Andaya, administrator of the county’s emergency management agency, was effective immediately, a county spokesperson said.
A wildfire devastated the historic West Maui town of Lahaina on Aug. 8, killing more than 100 people and destroying thousands of buildings, many of them residential.
Residents have described fleeing the area with little more than what they could grab — and with no way to receive emergency alerts sent to mobile devices since the power had been out for many since early that morning.
As the fire approached, Andaya said he made the decision not to sound the sirens as he feared coastal residents would have fled inland, toward the flames.
[…]
A fire official responded that they were still important during major emergencies, when power and phones might be down.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to diminish the value of sirens,” Andaya said. “I totally agree with you, chief, that the sirens are important.”
They wouldn’t have been saved—that’s how Herman Andaya supported his management skills. It was clear the man was in over his head, which was explained when it was discovered that Andaya has zero experience in disaster response. Andaya cited health reasons behind his resignation. Is that what we call incompetence nowadays?
Andaya resigned citing health reasons. This comes one day after CBS News’ @JonVigliotti asked if he regretted not sounding the alarm system #maui #wildfire
— Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 (@NorahODonnell) August 18, 2023
Maui has sustained $6 billion in damages, with at least 1,000 people still missing. The recovery effort will reportedly take months. Andaya isn’t the only person who delivered horrific remarks amid this tragedy. Joe Biden had no comment when asked about the rising death toll, which drew such a backlash that he was forced to visit the state sometime next week.
CBS News has learned Maui’s emergency operations chief had no background in disaster response. It’s his department that is responsible for setting off warning sirens, which rang silent during the fires. #maui #wildfires #Lahaina #MauiFire
— Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 (@NorahODonnell) August 16, 2023
Always the same story. pic.twitter.com/ASGERh4ZO2
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) August 17, 2023
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