but many fear there is little left to return to. plus, a natural disaster of this scale is posing a major logistical hurdle for the government to get much needed aid to maui residents. hello, i'm carl nasman, welcome to the programme. we're going to be taking a closer look for the next half hour at the unfolding tragedy in hawaii, where wildfires have devasated parts of the island of maui, and have claimed at least 67 lives. emergency crews from the mainland us are continuing to arrive in western maui, where currently over 11,000 residents remain without power and water. here are the latest numbers: so far, authorities say about 80% of the blaze around

lahaina is now contained. the pulehu fire, in the middle of the island, is about 70% contained. and officials are also dealing with a third fire in upcountry maui, with no estimate on its containment. in just over four days, the fires have burned roughly 2,000 acres, and have destroyed more than 1,000 buildings. these are images from the historic town of lahaina, which was hardest hit. local officials are allowing residents and tourists back into the town, but a nightly curfew is in place. we are now beginning to learn about the harrowing stories of survivors — like this one, where one family was forced tojump into the ocean to escape the flames. the ocean almost dragged my kids away a few times. but, yeah, we stuck together, we held on. i said, "we're not going to die," and we're here, we're alive. an unprecedented logistical

effort is under way from all over the united states, as government agencies are mobilising resources to send to hawaii. the state's national guard has chartered planes to help fly first responders and emergency crews to maui in order to help with efforts. meanwhile, the vice—president kamala harris spoke about whether she or president biden will visit hawaii. we wa nt we want to obviously, as with most of these situations, do whatever is in the best interests of the posts on the ground, and we don't want to distract from the resources that need to go into the victims of this tragedy and of course the need for the first responders to be able to focus on that issue and not worry about focusing on us. joining us now is the bbc�*s max matza who is at a temporary shelter in maui. max, thank you for your reporting so far. we want to ask you what you are seeing their, during the situation at

their, during the situation at the moment, we can see beds all over the gymnasium behind you. yeah, i am over the gymnasium behind you. yeah, iam here over the gymnasium behind you. yeah, i am here at the war memorial stadium which is one of i think five or six temporary shelters that have been set up, it is also important to note that many people are sleeping in cars, sleeping in the shade of trees or at the homes of good samaritans, but as you said, there is a lot of gratitude, people sharing stories about how they just barely people sharing stories about how theyjust barely made it out. how they “ust barely made it out. �* w , how they “ust barely made it out. �* , ., ., how they “ust barely made it out. ., ., out. and exactly how our people now, out. and exactly how our people now. because — out. and exactly how our people now, because we _ out. and exactly how our people now, because we know- out. and exactly how our people now, because we know that - out. and exactly how our people | now, because we know that there are some thousands of people still missing, how are folks there trying to track down their lost loved ones? it is kind of worrying _ their lost loved ones? it is kind of worrying really, . their lost loved ones? it 3 kind of worrying really, many are telling me they are not going to rush to go back because they personally witnessed the fire being destroyed. just one second please... i see, destroyed. just one second please... isee, sorry. iam

just being told that i, pardon me, sorry about that. the red cross here is asking people not to... ~ ,., , . , to... we will run some pictures riaht to... we will run some pictures right now. _ to... we will run some pictures right now. you _ to... we will run some pictures right now, you can _ to... we will run some pictures right now, you can get - to... we will run some pictures right now, you can get the - right now, you can get the camera going and if you want to continue on go ahead, but you can let them know your camera is not on right now, we will run some pictures. i know you are in maui, at a temporary shelter where it seems like they are having you turn your camera around, so no problems there, but if you wanted to go ahead and continue, because you were about to tell us about how people have been trying to find their loved ones, there are still many people who have not been able to get in touch with theirfamily members or their family members or otherwise.— their family members or otherwise. . , ., ., otherwise. yeah, i spoke to one man who _ otherwise. yeah, i spoke to one man who heard _ otherwise. yeah, i spoke to one man who heard from _ otherwise. yeah, i spoke to one man who heard from his - otherwise. yeah, i spoke to one | man who heard from his mother, that his uncle �*s body had been found in a car, but he was unable to make it out, he was apparently with his wife and grandchild, but this is still a rumour. i don't know how he is

getting this information to be honest with you. some residents are going back and they are reporting back that they see, there is enough cellphone service here that people are able to communicate finally after several days, able to communicate finally afterseveral days, but able to communicate finally after several days, but as i say, it is mostly rumours still, there is no confirmed identities of those that have died yet. identities of those that have died et. ~ . ., ., died yet. what about those who ou have died yet. what about those who you have been _ died yet. what about those who you have been speaking - died yet. what about those who you have been speaking to - you have been speaking to who may know that their homes have been destroyed, they may not have anywhere else to go, is there any plan in motion for there any plan in motion for the many people that will be left homeless by this fire? yeah, i was very struck by one person who said "everybody i know is now homeless". most people don't know where they are going to go next, they will be at the shelter for as long as it takes. 0ne be at the shelter for as long as it takes. one woman who is now in her 70s but have been living in her car before finding housing in lahaina a few years ago, she fears she may have to move back into her

car again, may have to move back into her caragain, and that may have to move back into her car again, and that would be quite difficult for her as an elderly woman. so i am not aware of any long—term plan at the moment. there was also another gentleman who said he is hopeful that they will swiftly rebuild the town. the historical sites that will attract federal funding to help restore it to the way it had been earlier, but considering the remote location it might take a very long time for supplies to reach the city. find supplies to reach the city. and 'ust supplies to reach the city. and just briefly _ supplies to reach the city. and just briefly if _ supplies to reach the city. and just briefly if you _ supplies to reach the city. and just briefly if you can - supplies to reach the city. and just briefly if you can we have been hearing these reports that a warning system installed across the island of hawaii failed to go off before this wildfire, what have you been hearing from people at the shelter about how much warning they had for they had to flee? —— before. nobodyi they had for they had to flee? —— before. nobody i have spoken to got any sort of alert. the whims of the first thing they saw and felt, and that knocked out power. —— the wind. the

out power. -- the wind. the next thing — out power. -- the wind. the next thing they _ out power. -- the wind. the next thing they knew - out power. —— the wind. the next thing they knew there were embers — next thing they knew there were embers blowing into town, blowing _ embers blowing into town, blowing into their homes, and they— blowing into their homes, and they were _ blowing into their homes, and they were forced to flee. they are aware _ they were forced to flee. they are aware there _ they were forced to flee. they are aware there is _ they were forced to flee. they are aware there is nothing - they were forced to flee. tue: are aware there is nothing left for them there. they witnessed with their own eyes, their houses going up in flames, all of their possessions being lost as they fled. so yeah, it is very tough situation for people here, they don't know what they are going do next.— are going do next. some harrowing _ are going do next. some harrowing stories - are going do next. some harrowing stories being l are going do next. some i harrowing stories being told are going do next. some - harrowing stories being told to our reporter max matza there, in a temporary shelter, thank you very much for your reporting. the federal government's response to the wildfires has been instrumental in helping firefighting efforts on the ground in hawaii. earlier i spoke to us congresswoman jill tokuda from hawaii's second congressional district about the federal government's response to the fires, and what the government could do to mitigate the effects of climate change and natural disasters. thank you so much for being here in this very difficult

time, i understand you have just actually returned to your home state of hawaii. what have you been hearing from your constituents and members of your community that have been affected by these wildfires? t been affected by these wildfires?— been affected by these wildfires? , , ., wildfires? i will 'ust tell you that it has h wildfires? i willjust tell you that it has been _ that it has been heart—wrenching and as you can imagine, not being able to get home fast enough adds to the banks but literally, constant streams of text messages, calls, watching these video footage images and pictures of a town we all love completely wiped out and destroyed. just in a flash. and i have heard from individuals who lost loved ones, i have heard from individuals who are looking for loved ones and were trying to help find them, connect them up, people who lost their homes and have nothing but the clothes on their back. the businesses, their livelihoods. there is so much shock and loss, i think the one thing that we take away as comfort is we have all pulled together so mightily to support and surround each other, but there

is definitelyjust surround each other, but there is definitely just a surround each other, but there is definitelyjust a deep, deep feeling of loss and pain and i can tell you that the heartbreak is felt by absolutely every single one of us. ., ., ., us. you mentioned there that hawaii and — us. you mentioned there that hawaii and maui _ us. you mentioned there that hawaii and maui and - us. you mentioned there that hawaii and maui and all - us. you mentioned there that hawaii and maui and all of. hawaii and maui and all of these communities are so tightknit it feels like over there. what have you seen in terms of the response from people coming together to help each other?— each other? you know, it doesn't _ each other? you know, it doesn't matter _ each other? you know, it doesn't matter what - each other? you know, it. doesn't matter what island each other? you know, it - doesn't matter what island you are on, where you live, we all have family who live on every island. i traced have family who live on every island. itraced back have family who live on every island. i traced back my family roots and my grandfather spent his childhood on maui, all of us have some kind of connection and tie to each other. and so we're looking at our capital right now, the last two days they have been taking a massive amounts of donations and things coming in. ijust got the plane from francisco and i will tell you that on the belt with the luggage was literally two or three large boxes taped up that said "maui relief donations". and just overwhelming response

of people giving what they can, supporting people in ways that they can, it is just supporting people in ways that they can, it isjust inspiring, it is moving, but it does also speak to the great need that exists right now in the community in maui. there is a lot of need — community in maui. there is a lot of need and _ community in maui. there is a lot of need and there - community in maui. there is a lot of need and there has - community in maui. there is a | lot of need and there has been a lot of damage and now tragically we are hearing that this is officially now hawaii's deadliest natural disaster as well. in your mind and what you have seen and heard, how prepared do you think the state was for an event like this? you know, was for an event like this? you know. when — was for an event like this? you know, when it _ was for an event like this? you know, when it comes - was for an event like this? you know, when it comes to - know, when it comes to hurricane season we worry about the hurricane �*s. we don't think about winds whipping up dry conditions and red flag warnings and creating wildfire. wildfires that in this case literally trapped a community between the fire and the ocean. so it_ between the fire and the ocean. so it was— between the fire and the ocean. so it was absolutely catastrophic. the thing is, after we are done really supporting this community, supporting this community, supporting ourfamilies supporting this community, supporting our families and friends, assessing the damage,

there is a lot of work to be donein there is a lot of work to be done in terms of making sure there is absolutely never happens again. if we think back in our history, hurricane lane did the same thing but it didn't take out a town, it took up didn't take out a town, it took up a lot of dry grass but we have to remember the way we are configured, we are along the coastline, this can happen again and so we need to have as many take away the lessons learned from this, because it absolutely must not, must not happen again, it is absolutely tragic. it was a perfect storm of catastrophic events, but thatis of catastrophic events, but that is not going to bring any lives back, that's not going to bring any homes back or businesses back. so bottom line, we have to be better next time and we have two... crosstalk there was a warning system in place that there was dozens and hundreds of these warning sirens across hawaii, but we have heard from officials there that the sirens didn't go off. do you have any sense of what might have happened and whether residents were given enough

time, enough warning to get to safety? time, enough warning to get to safe ? , , safety? every person living in hawaii, safety? every person living in hawaii. we — safety? every person living in hawaii, we are _ safety? every person living in hawaii, we are familiar- safety? every person living in hawaii, we are familiar with l hawaii, we are familiar with those warning sirens, the beginning of every month you hear them go off at noon, like clockwork, to test it out to make sure it works. so there is going to be a lot, there will be a lot of unanswered questions into why that warning signal did not go out. what kind of failsafes do we have, if in fact the situation was that it burnt down? we know that it burnt down? we know that a lot of alerts went out through cellphones, but unfortunately from the day prior as we know, the cellphones were actually out. so these are things that we have to create redundancies for, to make sure at the end of the day every person who needs to be warned gets to safety can get the alerts that they need. so there is still a lot of outstanding questions and i can tell you right now for many of us, focuses, there is still a huge recovery effort, we are talking about looking for loved ones, with the casualty counts that could definitely go up from here. really going out

there and recovering, assessing there and recovering, assessing the damage and the lost homes and businesses and the entire community stop so a lot of questions, but right now we have some very big arms that we have some very big arms that we have to wrap around our community, that is absolutely suffering and many still don't even know the fate of our loved ones and they are still looking for them. �* , ones and they are still looking for them. . , , , for them. and just briefly, the congresswoman, _ for them. and just briefly, the congresswoman, what - for them. and just briefly, the congresswoman, what would l for them. and just briefly, the i congresswoman, what would you like to see the federal government do to try to help states like hawaii and the other states we have seen affected by wildfires, continue to adapt to these disasters and the effects we are seeing from climate change?— the effects we are seeing from climate change? absolutely. you can ask anyone — climate change? absolutely. you can ask anyone who _ climate change? absolutely. you can ask anyone who lives - climate change? absolutely. you can ask anyone who lives here, l can ask anyone who lives here, it doesn't take a hurricane to bring down utility poles, to bring down utility poles, to bring waves over roadways and take—out bridges —— bridges and roadways, we are seeing this all the time throughout the year and an increasing frequency. we are seeing drought conditions, torrential rains, the reality is we have to start looking at how we are going to mitigate the damage to this kind of climate chaos we

are seeing across the country. hawaii is not unique when it comes to wildfires, when it comes to wildfires, when it comes to wildfires, when it comes to torrential storms coming out of nowhere in many cases. so this is going to be about how we put resources and support, change policies, so that we are both adaptive to climate change and we prevent this kind of massive loss of life, loss of property, from ever happening again anywhere else. . ~ ever happening again anywhere else. ., ,, , ., ever happening again anywhere else. ., ,, . ever happening again anywhere else. ., . ., else. thank you so much for “oininu else. thank you so much for joining us — else. thank you so much for joining us during _ else. thank you so much for joining us during this - else. thank you so much for joining us during this time. | as we mentioned at the start of the programme, hawaii's historic former capital, lahaina, has been left in ruins after the wildfires swept through the historic town, burning down celebrated landmarks. earlier i spoke to dr kalei nu'uhiwa, lahaina native and current adjunct professor at the university of hawaii at manoa about the history of hawaii's former capitol. thank you so much forjoining

us to speak about lahaina, which is of course the town where you grew up, you know it well. i wanted to you, ask first of all, have you been in touch with your friends or loved ones there in the town? yes, just recently, communications are not actually up communications are not actually up yet, and so not a lot of wi—fi or phone capabilities, so they are trying to reach out to us as much as possible to let us as much as possible to let us know that they are ok, so for me, my friends and family are all accounted for, although we have lost personal items and things like that,...— things like that,... very good to hear they _ things like that,... very good to hear they are _ things like that,... very good to hear they are safe. - things like that,... very good to hear they are safe. we - things like that,... very good l to hear they are safe. we have seen images of destruction, and the sense of loss is hard to imagine. can you describe some of the cultural areas, the fixtures of this town that dates back centuries, that may have been lost in this fire?

pre— contact time, lahaina was an area that was known for its water resources, so there are some religious sites that are there that sort of go back to that time, before contact, so a lot of chiefs, our leadership in the past would have a home there to be able to rule from, and so that's actually some of the spaces that are gone. the thing about lahaina is you could walk down french street, which is an amazing space, and place that was sort of captured in multiple time eras, this chronological walker, you could walk from pre— contact where the hawaiian leadership would be, where they would go and pray, do their spiritual

practices, political decisions, those kinds of things happened there. . , those kinds of things happened there. ., , , ., there. that street you were describing. _ there. that street you were describing, was _ there. that street you were describing, was that - there. that street you were i describing, was that destroyed in the fire?— in the fire? yes, french street. _ in the fire? yes, french street, absolutely - in the fire? yes, french - street, absolutely completely levelled, there is nothing left of it anymore. it's a little bit difficult right now to come to terms with that, perhaps we took the place for granted and as i was saying, it is the area for native hawaiians, there were lots of things that happened there, a lot of beginnings, laws, rules, the beginnings, laws, rules, the beginnings of education happened there as well, the oldest school west of the mississippi was there, or is it still there, so a lot of things happened along that street, and it touches upon multiple areas of time and history.— it touches upon multiple areas of time and history. what about the significance _ of time and history. what about the significance of— of time and history. what about the significance of this - of time and history. what about the significance of this town, i the significance of this town, how does it feel to now begin to come to terms with the fact that much of it has

unfortunately been lost? personally, it's actually where a lot of us are still in shock, still getting through that, and as days go by, a little more realisation comes in with social media photos and those kinds of things. i liken it to the time that a hurricane came to hawaii and the devastation happened to the community although everybody was connected to that as well, but what is sad about it is this historical timeline that i keep referring back to about french street is you could go, like rome, to places in roman point to things and say this is where a previous rule this out and this is where his son was correlated, the funeral of his daughter was here, you could point to things, this is where the wall used to be, that the

whaling industry was, you could point to various things, see it in real—time and now, those things are just completely gone, nothing left of them, all smouldering ashes at the moment, and currently we are focusing on the lives that have been lost in the livelihoods that have been lost, that's kind of what we're working through first.— through first. you have mentioned _ through first. you have mentioned all- through first. you have mentioned all the i through first. you have mentioned all the livesj through first. you have i mentioned all the lives lost, how would you describe the community? i know it's a small town, 12,000 people are so lived there, what kind of person lives in lahaina? share person lives in lahaina? are very resilient _ person lives in lahaina? are very resilient one _ person lives in lahaina? are very resilient one for - person lives in lahaina? site: very resilient one for sure, used to hosting multiple different changes, cultures that come through, whether it is through the plantation era where there were multiple cultures living in one space and place, got along, easily celebrated each other�*s festivals and those kinds of

things, so we know they will rise and stand firm and help each other�*s neighbours and get through this devastation and this tragedy that is occurring and i also know that hawaii will do the same, the other islands and other communities will stand up and help, so it's been amazing to see how many people and how many communities and also nations are sending their assistance, so i really believe that hawaii will rise and there will be resilience and there will be resilience and they will rise to the challenges.— challenges. resilience certainly _ challenges. resilience certainly would - challenges. resilience certainly would be i challenges. resilience certainly would be the j challenges. resilience i certainly would be the word here. we wish you and your community the best, the adjunct professor at the university have way, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. the maui blaze moved faster. a

short time ago i spoke with the professor on climatology at the university of hawaii on how climate and climate change helped fuel hawaii's deadly blast. thank you forjoining us, we have been seeing these images of destruction there maui. to what extent do you believe is someone who studies meteorology and climate change, the climate conditions played a role in such a destructive wildfire. irate such a destructive wildfire. we know that _ such a destructive wildfire. - know that climate is integral to the science in hawaii, so when we have el nino, then the following winter in the spring in hawaii is very dry and this is our rainy season come, so we almost have a six—month

drought, and following this drought, and following this drought period, by spring and summer of next year, then we see large acres burned by wildfire in hawaii, so previously, we knew that on this times cow, claimant is integral to this wildfire. this ocean phenomena _ integral to this wildfire. this ocean phenomena which brings heat up right from the bottom of the ocean, affecting not just the pacific by the entire globe, what is it about that phenomena that affected hawaii so drastically? tt phenomena that affected hawaii so drastically?— so drastically? if you have el nino, so drastically? if you have el nino. then — so drastically? if you have el nino, then there _ so drastically? if you have el nino, then there is - so drastically? if you have el nino, then there is a - so drastically? if you have el nino, then there is a betterl nino, then there is a better chance for more hurricane �*s to occur in the central north pacific including hawaii regions, so this is no surprise, like this year, since

july we have had a tropical storm and in august we had a hurricane which is pretty strong, so this is something that we always keep watching, this hurricane developed following el nino.- this hurricane developed following el nino. there was about 9096 _ following el nino. there was about 9096 less _ following el nino. there was about 9096 less rainfall i following el nino. there was about 9096 less rainfall in i about 90% less rainfall in hawaii recently than in central areas, there really dry conditions. what's behind that? to those numbers strike you as out of the ordinary yes, those numbers are really alarming. t numbers are really alarming. i think that of course, the climate is changing, so it is different from before, and we do see more and more wildfire activity, temperature rise, sealevel rise, more hurricane activity, more drought, so they are all linked together. irate are all linked together. we have also _

are all linked together. we have also seen _ are all linked together. we have also seen these devastating wildfires hitting other parts of the globe. how vulnerable was away previously to wildfires? was it considered a risk zone?— a risk zone? usually wildfires do not receive _ a risk zone? usually wildfires do not receive much - a risk zone? usually wildfires| do not receive much attention in a way because the unlearned areas, basically in the tropical islands, there's lots of vegetation, usually compared to california, hawaii usually is not considered to be wildfire pruned region, but this time is very unusual, because there was a combination of very strong pressure gradient north of hawaii, high—pressure and to the south of the way you have a hurricane which is low pressure, so this generates very strong pressure

gradient, and if you have a very strong pressure gradient, this drives very strong winds, so this is a large—scale. 0nce once again, the latest information we have on this wildfire is the death toll is 67. we have plenty more information on our website. just head to bbc.com/news. our team has a live page up with the latest on the hawaii wildfires. this page has a breakdown of the latest facts from officials, as well as detailed timeline of events leading up to the wildfires. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. it is shaping up to be yet another unsettled weekend of weather, but that doesn't mean it's going to be raining all the time.

far from it. while it will be showery and quite breezy, there'll be some drier spells too. in fact, parts of the south and the east are going to see the driest of the weather, furthest away from the centre of this area of low pressure. that is what will be driving the showers over the weekend. and see all the white lines, the isobars squeezing together? that shows that we are going to have some quite brisk winds, particularly around western coasts. a band of rain through the morning pushing its way northwards and eastwards across scotland, northern england seeing some of that, maybe parts of wales. behind that, sunny spells and showers, some of them heavy and thundery. a few showers breaking out down towards the southeast corner, but actually a decent amount of dry weather to be had here. so there's confirmation of what will be a breezy, indeed quite windy day around some western coasts. temperatures a little down on where they have been. the warmest weather in eastern england at 2a degrees, more generally around 16 to 22. and then as we head through saturday evening, we'll continue to see some showers, particularly across the north and the west of the uk.

some areas of cloud, some clear spells too, and another relatively warm night, 12 to 15 degrees. so for sunday, our area of low pressure just continues to swirl, centred close to the north—west of scotland. so that will be driving the showers. this frontal system here to the south—west, that'll be running in later in the day. so some spells of sunshine to be had, but also some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain at times for northern ireland and western parts of scotland. and then late in the day, some cloud and perhaps some rain into the far south—west of england, maybe the far south—west of wales. temperatures between 18 and 23 degrees. breezy again, perhaps not quite as windy as on saturday. now, through the coming week, low pressure will be with us initially, but then it looks like high pressure will build for a time. and, actually, as that high shifts eastwards, it may be that we start to pick up a feed of slightly warmer air from the near continent. the big question mark is about how quickly this area

of low pressure then swirls in from the west to turn things unsettled once again. but signs are that as we head through the coming week, there will at least be some drier and warmer weather on the way for many of us.

v0|ceover: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines

for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. from the moment we arrive on this planet, we are all heading in the same direction. i could come up with a date predicting when you will die. well, thanks, but maybe the way that the years play out isn't inevitable. so how about the idea of being able to increase our health spans, live the better years of our lives for longer, feel like we are 40 at 60. there is a 15—17 years of healthy life that is up for grabs for all of us. we head to california to meet the scientists and founders who want to make it a reality. ageing by itself is the largest risk factor for every single disease, this chronic disease of ageing, so by targeting it, you target all disease together. but how do we separate science from snake oil?

the longevity industry is worth billions,