Biden says ‘every asset that we have will be available’ to Hawaii residents affected by wildfires
President Joe Biden issued a federal disaster declaration following “devastating” Hawaii wildfires across several parts of the Big Island and Maui and promised to send whatever is needed to help the recovery, CNN reports.
The fires have killed at least 36 people and devastated Lahaina, a town on the island of Maui. Speaking at an unrelated event in Utah on Thursday, Biden said the federal government is moving fast in its response.
“We’re working as quickly as possible to fight those fires and evacuate residents and tourists. In the meantime, our prayers are with the people of Hawaii, but not just our prayers: every asset that we have will be available to them,” Biden said as he began remarks at a Veterans Affairs medical center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Assistance from the declaration can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help with recovery.
The aid from the disaster declaration “will get aid into the hands of people who desperately need help,” Biden said, vowing that “anyone who’s lost a loved one or whose home has been damaged or destroyed is going to get help immediately.”
He noted that Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell travels to Maui on Friday, and he has “directed her to streamline any process, request for help, and survivors registered for needing federal assistance without delay.”
