melissa adan is in tells us a state of emergency has been declared for the entire island. lissa: residents of the historic town of lahaina finally allowed to return home days after the devastating fires in hawaii swept through communities, leaving behind a path of destruction. >> just want to see what's left, but nothing. >> all gone. >> in west maui a new wild broke out overnight, forcing residents to evacuate. hawaii emergency management records showed there were no warning sirens alerting people to evacuate. instead, alerts went to cell but power and cellular outages limited their reach. this woman's family lost their home. >> we are supposed to get, you know, on your cell phone, evacuation notices alerts, we got nothing. >> the flames also tearing through this neighborhood. his father spent decades building this multi generational home. it is now completely gone. >> there's things you think you always have, you know, like things you think you will give to your children. >> the community coming together to help, some taking to the water to bring in supplies to those drea

melissa adan is there. >> reporter: hundreds and hundreds of cars are lined up along the road waiting for that opportunity to go back to their communities. it's been four days, and they're awaiting a grim journey to see what's left of their homes. >> i feel 100% that the county officials and the police and the fire department have blood on their hands. there's no way that those poor people who were stuck in lahaina did not deserve better communication. >> whit: and it wasn't only lahaina. flames from a different wildfire, 20 miles away, ripping through homes here in kula. >> i think that's my stove right there. that was my kitchen. >> whit: akane joseph and her mother mika fleeing with their family as the fire exploded in size. >> we had, like, maybe five minutes? >> whit: five minutes? you had five minutes to gather your family and get out. >> yeah. >> whit: akane's father spent decades slowly building this multi-generational home with his bare hands. this video shows the two-story house before t

melissa adan, abc news, maui. kristen: the lhasa devastation is being felt by bait -- loss and devastation is being felt by bay area residents. reporter: as the smoke settles on maui, the community is taking into account what has been lost, not only the community's history, but dozens of lives lost due to the fires. there are many more people still missing. like this san leandro resident's son. his 33-year-old son brandon who lives with special needs resides on maui his mother. he has not heard from either. >> brandon needs a special medications. i'm concerned the pharmacy is no longer there. i was able to get a handle on brandon's a. he is homeless right now. he was at their house the night before, but has not heard from him, or have been able to get in touch. reporter: fairfield -- this fairfield resident is in the similar situation, but she knows where they are. >> they are stranded. >> you can see the blue flashing lights. that is a check that is stopping everyone. reporter: after leaving their hotel, john and

melissa adan, abc news, maui.ry: within the next few hours, an airplane will land in the bay area carrying shelter animals from maui. dogs and cats awaiting adoption will be arriving at the airport tonight. the emergency flight part of a larger effort to make room for an influx of homeless pets at the maui humane society. about 100 animals are expected to land tonight and will be taken to shelters. >> we've got camels rating, pictures and names up. most have already been spayed and neutered. we will give them a quick time to decompress and we will look them over, make sure they are ready to go. we are adoption fees back to maui humane society. larry: all of t puppies you see in these pictures are available for adoption, waiting for their forever homes. there's a lot of ways you can help those affected by the wildfires on maui. at abc7news.com, you will find a list of fundraisers and charities, these are all verified, that will put your donations to good use. karina: a new effort launched to build a better bay area

our melissa adan catching up with people outside lahaina who were having trouble returning to their homes. >> i saw no management of the situation whatsoever. there was one police car with, like, the little blue lights flashing. nothing about, there's a fire, evacuate, get out. no fire trucks. i never saw a drop of water going through. >> there was no alert that went off, no alarm, no text that was telling us we needed to evacuate. i was with my neighbors outside watching smoke billowing at 80 miles an hour over my apartment and that's when we saw flames about one block away. >> you got no warning at all? >> absolutely no warning. >> reporter: authorities responding overnight that the speed and intensity of the flames complicated efforts to warn citizens. >> there were multiple fires at the same time, and the circumstance was greatly complicated also by the heat and the speed with which the fires spread, destroying a great deal of infrastructure. over time we'll be able to figure out if we could have better protected people. >> gio: and it is important to repeat here this is now the deadl

. >> abc's melissa adan has more. >> parts of maui left charred by the catastrophic fires that began on tuesday. >> the historic city of lahaina reduced to a pile of ash and rubble. >> it's been so hot. we're very hard. >> so far, only a small portion of destroyed structures have been searched for human remains . >> and so we're going as fast as we can. but just so you know, 3, that's what's been searched with the dogs, 3. >> l.a county has sent 12 of their cadaver dogs to help with the search. all of this of course, as families still want to reconnect with their loved ones because we're talking about a thousand people still unaccounted for. >> joe shillings family says they believe he died. he was hunkered down in an apartment complex that was destroyed in the fire. >> he would do anything to help anybody, even a stranger among those confirmed killed carol hartley. >> she was running to escape the flames with her longtime partner , charles. he survived but suffered third degree burns. >> i can't even go to sleep. >> i'm having dreams of her just on fire in front of me. she had a hea

abc's melissa adan shows us would you please rise for the pronounced of sentence? >> lori vallow daybell sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of two of her three children. seven year old joshua jj vallow and 16 year old tylee ryan. >> they were found dead, earned, muted, hated and dismembered and buried like animals. >> but before learning her sentence. vallow daybell addressed the courtroom, denying the victims were murdered. >> i know for a fact that my children are happy and busy in the spirit world. the so-called doomsday cult mother claiming her children have visited her as a spirit. he said to me, you didn't do anything wrong, mom. i love you and i know you loved me every minute of my life. >> prosecutors said lori and her married lover, chad daybell, a doomsday author, claimed the kids and chad's wife were zombies who had to be killed. they argued the couple who married weeks later on a beach in hawaii were driven by greed. >> jj and tylee could have been with us living happy lives. instead, she took all that away. al

abc's melissa adan is on the ground on maui tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the maui wildfire disaster's death toll rising to at least 114 people. officials have searched 78% of the area destroyed by the flames. more than 1,000 federal workers are on the ground, including 470 search-and-rescue workers and 40 search dogs combing through the wreckage. >> this process is agonizing for the families waiting for word from their loved ones. and heartbreaking for those sifting through the debris. >> reporter: those fires tonight mostly contained as survivors try to take measure of what they've lost. survivors like joy richter. >> the smells, the sounds. the sound of a blazing fire is something i don't wish on anybody to ever hear or experience. the sounds i heard will never, ever, ever leave my head. >> reporter: this stunning image capturing joy, her dog, and her father-in-law awaiting rescue. tragically her father-in-law j.p. succumbing to the conditions. he would have been 80 next month. others like lahaina high school teacher jackie ellis reuniting with her former student. that chance meetin

. >> reporter: speaking with our melissa adan. >> i can honestly say, i've been through hell and back, and thank god they didn't want me. >> reporter: for many in lahaina, jumping into the ocean was their only escape from those thousand-degree flames devouring a mile every minute. >> you're going to be okay. >> reporter: 19-year-old noah tomkinson, along with his mother and younger brother, wading in the water for five hours. >> we're through the worst of it. we're going to be okay. >> reporter: the family of joe schilling, known locally as uncle joe, says they believe he died trying to help his neighbors. sharing the last photos they received from him, homes about to go up in flames. >> there isn't anybody in the family, or who knew joe, that would be surprised that he would put himself at risk to help somebody else. >> reporter: authorities have now publicly released the names of any of the victims, but tonight, it's clear the death toll will keep rising. >> they will find 10 to 20 people per day, probably, until they finish. and it's probably going to take ten days. it's impossible

here's melissa adan. >> reporter: tonight, president biden just hours from landing here on maui. the official death toll 114. a church service today for those lost and the hundreds still unaccounted for. maui fire chief brad ventura, in his first national interview since the fires, getting emotional when talking about the firefighters under his command. >> the firefighters are hurting. this is their community. this is their home. these are their people. nobody in our department is unaffected by this. we care about our firefighters first and our community as well. and if they can't go to work in a healthy way, then it's difficult for them to serve. >> reporter: first responders facing scrutiny after some ran out of water fighting the fires. does it frustrate you to think, knowing what they were going through, that they may not have been able to have water, they needed help? >> certainly. they need water. that resources is so precious to us. and when they were running out, they were so disheartened and, you know, i felt for them because that is their -- that is their lifeline to he

abc's melissa adan is on the ground in maui with the latest. ning to you, melissa. >> reporter: gio, good morning. search and recovery crews are now combing through more than half of the burned areas as so many families deal with this unthinkable loss. overnight, hawaii's first lady overwhelmed with emotion for maui's devastating loss. >> tragically it took less than a single day for us to lose lahaina in the deadliest fire our country has seen in more than a century. >> reporter: this as the official death toll inches up to 114 since the raging flames hit lahaina just 11 days ago. roughly 470 first responders and 40 search dogs combing through the debris hoping to reunite separated families. >> this process is agonizing for the families waiting for word from their loved ones, and heartbreaking for those sifting through the debris. >> reporter: a group of concerned citizens calling on the local government to give locals time to grieve. >> the governor should not rush to rebuild the community without first giving people time to heal, especially w

but first let's go to abc's melissa adan in maui. morning, melissa. >> reporter: anger growing here on maui over the lack of warning surrounding this devastating wildfire. some residents concerned they're being left out of conversations on rebuilding their communities. almost two weeks after the deadly wildfires swept through lahaina and other parts of maui, the recovery of victims is moving painstakingly slow. hundreds of people still unaccounted for. and of the 100 remains discovered, only a handful identified. the emotional toll still sweeping the community. >> it was just crazy. and when you see how many of us are there. >> reporter: joy's father-in-law died as they were seeking shelter from the flames. >> there was fire coming at us in that direction, and i turned around and there was fire coming at me from behind me. >> reporter: mounting outrage and frustration by devastated residents asking why the island's siren warning system was not deployed. the man in the middle of the controversy, herman andaya. >> it's an outdoor siren