Deadly wildfires in Hawaii: estimating the cost of the disaster

On Tuesday 28 August, several wildfires, fanned by strong winds and Hurricane Dora that crossed the Pacific Ocean, ravaged the island of Maui, in the Hawaiian archipelago.

In the city of Lahaina, which was almost devastated, more than 2 000 buildings were destroyed and several homes burnt to the ground. A dozen residents jumped into the sea to escape the flames.

As at 15 August 2023, the fires killed 106 people while at least 1300 others were reported missing. The death toll could double or even triple as rescuers have searched just over a quarter of the island.

Local authorities are calling on the missing person's relatives to take a DNA test to facilitate the identification of corpses, which are often unrecognizable.

These are the deadliest wildfires in more than a century in the United States.

According to Moody's initial estimates, the series of fires could cost insurers more than a billion dollars.

Karen Clark & Company (KCC) expects insured damages to reach 3.2 billion USD, making the Maui wildfires the costliest disaster in Hawaii after Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

For Bloomberg Intelligence, insured losses could range between 2.5 billion USD and 4.5 billion USD.