Thursday, August 10, 2023

Hawaii wildfires latest: At least 36 dead as historic town Lahaina burns to the ground

“Unprecedented’’ wildfires continue into a third day on Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui in what is said to be the state’s worst natural disaster in 30 years.


Niamh Cavanagh
·Reporter
Thu, August 10, 2023




At least 36 people have been confirmed dead after windswept wildfires ravaged parts of Hawaii’s Big Island and neighboring Maui. The fires, which began on Tuesday, destroyed swathes of land forcing residents from their businesses and homes. According to officials, thousands of people have been displaced.

What’s the latest?


On Wednesday evening, Maui County officials said 36 people were discovered amid the “active fire” in the historic town of Lahaina. “We are still in a search and rescue mode, so I don’t know what will happen to that number,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said during a news conference on Wednesday.

Sen. Brian Schatz said the centuries-old town was “almost totally burnt to the ground.” Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke said communities had been “wiped out” after emergency services struggled to contain the fires. In Maui alone, over 270 structures have been damaged so far. “These were small businesses that invested in Maui,” she said. “These were local residents. We need to figure out a way to help a lot of people in the next several years. The road to recovery will be long.”


Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures in areas including historic Lahaina town, forcing evacuations and the closing of schools in several communities. (Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP)

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Maui County officials said that 11,000 people have been evacuated from the island so far, with many more expected to leave. Since Wednesday, hospitals have been overwhelmed with burn victims and those suffering from smoke inhalation, including one firefighter. Landline and cellphone service remain cut for residents of West Maui, leaving them unable to contact emergency services.

Tourists have been asked to leave the affected areas of Maui as soon as possible. For those without cars, bus evacuations were organized outside of hotel resorts bringing tourists straight to Kahului Airport. The Department of Transportation has been working with local airlines to evacuate all tourists from the affected areas of Maui, the White House said in a statement.


Smoke billows near Lahaina as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii, on August 9, 2023. (Dustin Johnson/Reuters)

At least 10 schools on the island have closed following the continued spread of brush fires, while one, located in Central Maui, remains open as an evacuation shelter. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 12,000 in Hawaii are still without electricity.
What has the White House said?

In a statement released on Wednesday night, President Biden ordered all available federal assets in Hawaii to help battle the wildfires. The Army and the Hawaiian National Guard have mobilized helicopters to help with “fire suppression” on the Big Island and Maui. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard and the Navy have been supporting evacuations and rescue efforts.

“I urge all residents to continue to follow evacuation orders, listen to the instructions of first responders and officials and stay alert,” Biden said.


This graphic shows the location of fires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
 (AP Photo)

What caused the wildfires?


It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the wildfires, but Honolulu meteorologist Jeff Powell said they were sparked “kind of because of Hurricane Dora, but it’s not a direct result.”

Hurricane Dora, which passed western Johnston Island on Wednesday, traveled 700 miles south of Honolulu and created winds of 130 mph on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Weather Service warned of wind speeds as high as 60 mph and alerted those in the affected areas to expect power outages and difficulty traveling. The NWS said that “very dry conditions” and “potentially damaging easterly winds” would continue the “dangerous fire weather conditions” into Wednesday afternoon. “The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Maui County fire assistant chief Jeff Giesea said.

“The fact that we have wildfires in multiple areas as a result of indirectly from a hurricane is unprecedented; it’s something that Hawaii residents and the state have not experienced,” Luke said.



Ring by ring, majestic banyan tree in heart of fire-scorched Lahaina chronicles 150 years of history





Hawaii Fires
This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Banyan Court in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, 2023, top, and an overview of the same area on Wednesday, Aug. 9, following a wildfire that tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island.
 (Maxar Technologies via AP)


BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Thu, August 10, 2023 

For generations, the banyan tree along Lahaina town's historic Front Street served as a gathering place, its leafy branches unfurling majestically to give shade from the Hawaiian sun. By most accounts, the sprawling tree was the heart of the oceanside community — towering more than 60 feet (18 meters) and anchored by multiple trunks that span nearly an acre.

Like the town itself, its very survival is now in question, its limbs scorched by a devastating fire that has wiped away generations of history.

For 150 years, the colossal tree shaded community events, including art fairs. It shaded townsfolk and tourists alike from the Hawaiian sun, befitting for a place once called “Lele,” the Hawaiian word for “relentless sun.”

Ring by ring, the tree has captured history.

The tree was just an 8-foot (2-meter) sapling when it was planted in 1873, a gift shipped from India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina. It was planted a quarter century before the Hawaiian Islands became a U.S. territory and seven decades after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom.

“There is nothing that has made me cry more today than the thought of the Banyan Tree in my hometown of Lahaina,” wrote a poster identifying herself as HawaiiDelilah on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We will rebuild," her post said. "And the natural beauty of Maui will be forever.”

The tree's enormity — and its many trunks — is because of how it grows. Aerial roots dangle from its boughs and eventually latch onto the soil. Branches splay out widely and become roosting places for choirs of myna birds.

While there was lots of concern over the loss of at least 36 lives and the devastation to the community, the tree has become a symbol of the devastation but perhaps the community's resilience, should it survive.

It's unclear what sparked the fire, which quickly raced toward town Tuesday evening. The flames were fanned by brisk winds and fueled by dry vegetation in nearby hills. When the ferocious blaze swept into the historic town, many of the wooden buildings didn't stand a chance and were quickly turned into heaps of ashes.

“It’s kind of the center of town,” said Maui resident Amy Fuqua in an interview with The Associated Press in 2016 when she was the manager of the Lahaina Visitor’s Center. “Everyone knows where it’s at. It has an important significance to the town and it feels good under there.”

Wildfire devastates Hawaii's Lahaina, historic city and onetime capital of former kingdom


MARK THIESSEN and AUDREY McAVOY
Updated Thu, August 10, 2023 

KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — The wildfire that has brought sheer devastation to Maui is especially heartbreaking for Hawaii because it struck one of its most historic cities and the onetime capital of the former kingdom.

Lahaina holds deep cultural significance for Hawaiians. The city was once the royal residence of King Kamehameha III, who unified Hawaii under a single kingdom by defeating the other islands’ chiefs. His successors made it the capital from 1820 to 1845, according to the National Park Service.

Kings and queens are buried in the graveyard of the 200-year-old stone Wainee Church. Later named Waiola, the church that once sat up to 200 people was photographed apparently engulfed in flames this week.

“It was really the political center for Hawaii,” said Davianna McGregor, a retired professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blaze that ignited Tuesday and quickly spread throughout the western Maui community of less than 13,000 residents.

It’s feared that the fire also consumed much of Lahaina's historic Front Street, home to restaurants, bars, stores and what is believed to be the United States' largest banyan, a fig tree with roots that grow out of branches and eventually reach the soil like new trunks.

Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot with tour operator Air Maui, said he and other pilots and mechanics flew over the scene Wednesday before work to take stock.

“All the places that are tourist areas, that are Hawaiian history, are gone, and that can’t be replaced," he said. “You can’t refurbish a building that’s just ashes now. It can’t be rebuilt — it’s gone forever.”

Francine Hollinger, a 66-year-old Native Hawaiian, said witnessing the destruction of Front Street was “like losing a family member ... because they’ll never be able to rebuild it, like we wouldn’t be able to bring back our mother or father."

The full extent of loss won’t be known until officials can assess the damage done by the flames, fanned by winds caused in part by Hurricane Dora moving westward hundreds of miles to the south of the island state.

The Lahaina Historic District is home to more than 60 historic sites, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. A National Historic Landmark since 1962, it encompasses more than 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) and covers ocean waters stretching a mile (1.6 kilometers) offshore from the storied buildings.

For Native Hawaiians, the city is a connection to their ancestors. Lahainaluna High School was where royalty and chiefs were educated, and also where Kamehameha and his Council of Chiefs drafted the first Declaration of Rights of the People and the Constitution for the Hawaiian Kingdom.

“From going from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, the ruling chiefs in and around Lahaina and those educated at Lahainaluna played very prominent roles in our governance at that time,” McGregor said.

The capital was moved to Honolulu in 1845, but Lahaina’s palace remained a place where royalty would visit.

Lahaina also has a rich history of whaling, with more than 400 ships a year visiting for weeks at a time in the 1850s. Crew members sometimes clashed with missionaries on the island.

Sugar plantations and fishing boosted the economy over the decades, but tourism is the main driver now. Nearly 3 million visitors came to Maui last year, and many of them come to the historic city.

The fire is “just going to change everything,” said Lee Imada, who worked at the Maui News for 39 years, including the last eight as managing editor until his retirement in 2020. “It’s just hard to register, even right now, what the full impact of this is going to be.”

Imada lives in Waikapu, on Maui, but has ancestral ties to Lahaina going back generations. His mother’s family owned a chain of popular general stores, and his granduncles ran the location on Front Street until it closed around 60 years ago.

He recalled walking down Front Street among the tourists as they shopped or ate, looking at the banyan tree, and enjoying the beautiful ocean views from the harbor.

“It’s just sort of hard to believe that it’s not there,” Imada said. “Everything that I remember the place to be is not there anymore.”

___

Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Associated Press video journalist Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed.

Images show devastation of Hawaii wildfires
BBC
Wed, August 9, 2023 

An arial view of buildings damaged in Lahaina, Hawaii as a result of a large wildfire which has killed 6 people and forced thousands of evacuations on the island of Maui in Hawaii, USA, 09 August 2023. Winds from Hurricane Dora, which is currently over the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles south of Hawaii, have intensified the wildfires.

Wildfires on the Hawaii island of Maui have destroyed homes and businesses and displaced thousands.

The hardest hit is the historic town of Lahaina. Officials reported at least six people have been killed in the fires.

The fires continue to rage as of Wednesday afternoon, with firefighting efforts and search and rescue missions underway.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has deployed federal resources to help.

Aerial images show several buildings destroyed by the fires in Lahaina, though officials said it is still difficult to determine the true extent of the damage.

The fires were fanned by a combination of low humidity and winds from a distant Hurricane Dora, the National Weather Service said, which brought with it gusts of above 60 mph (97 kph). The flames spread along Lahaina's coast, burning boats and the town's harbour.

A charred boat lies in the scorched waterfront after wildfires fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane devastated Maui's city of Lahaina, Hawaii, U.S. August 9, 2023. Mason Jarvi/Handout

The path of the flames can be seen by images captured by satellite. Some have reportedly jumped into the ocean to escape the flames, and the US Coast Guard said it rescued at least a dozen people from the water.

A satellite image shows wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, U.S.,

Lahaina is a historic town on the western tip of Maui. It is home to 12,000 residents and is also a popular destination for tourists. The fires have displaced round 2,100 locals who have been housed in shelters.


Thousands remain without power or cell phone service due to the fires, and 911 services in West Maui were down on Wednesday. Roads into Lahaina were closed except for emergency vehicles, as officials warned visitors to stay away for their own safety.

Smoke billows from flames near Lahaina as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii, U.S. August 9, 2023.

All images subject to copyright.


Shocking Before-and-After Pics Show Hawaiian Town Obliterated by Deadly Wildfires

Dan Ladden-Hall, Josh Fiallo
Thu, August 10, 2023 

Jeff Melichar/TMX/via Reuters


Shocking before-and-after photos from Lahaina, a historic Hawaiian town of about 12,000 people on the west coast of Maui, have revealed the extent of the devastation caused by one of the most deadly American wildfires in recent history.

At least 53 people died as several fires tore across the island of Maui on Tuesday, with powerful winds from Hurricane Dora accelerating the inferno (even though the hurricane itself is passing Hawaii several hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean).

County officials said many of the fatalities were discovered as firefighters battled to save Lahaina—a popular tourist destination that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The death toll is expected to rise above that caused by a tsunami that slammed into the state in 1960, leveling much of Hilo and killing 61 people.


Satellite imagery shows the total destruction of the Banyan Court area in Lahaina.
Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty

Satellite imagery showed that the Banyan Court area of Lahaina had been razed, including many of the town’s most iconic landmarks. Its famous 150-year-old banyan tree, the largest in the world, was badly charred but salvageable, KHON2 reported.

At least 1,000 structures have been either damaged or destroyed in the flames, which grew so intense that some people were forced to flee into the ocean. Gov. Josh Green (D) estimated Thursday that “maybe upwards of 1,700 buildings” had been razed by the fires.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement the same day that it had saved 17 people in the water, while 40 survivors had been located on land. Search and rescue responders remained “actively engaged” in looking for more survivors, Captain Aja Kirksey said.

Thousands of locals spent Tuesday night in evacuation shelters while thousands of tourists were similarly forced to take shelter as flights were grounded. More than 14,000 people were moved off Maui on Wednesday. An additional 14,500 people were set to be relocated by Thursday night, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Satellite imagery shows an overview of the damage caused by the Lahaina wildfire.
Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty

Lahaina resident La Phena Davis said the blaze had left her and her hometown with nothing.

“I've never seen anything like it,” she told KITV. “There is no Lahaina left. There’s no Lahaina Harbor, no Mala Wharf. Every restaurant is burned. The Jodo Mission and the homes on Front Street are completely burned to the ground.”

In a separate interview, Davis recalled how frighteningly fast the flames reached her front door, leaving her only enough time to grab essential paperwork and run.

“It was such a black, thick smoke that we immediately just left,” she said. “We barely grabbed anything. I literally didn’t grab any clothes. I grabbed my important papers, but everything that we owned, and you know, in all my 50 years of life, is completely burnt to the ground.”

Other residents from the beachside town of 13,000 described a similarly apocalyptic scene. Ingrid Lynch told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that she thought the worst had passed on Tuesday morning when the fires destroyed her car. That night, her roommate woke her and told her they had to flee their house—which was soon on fire as well. “We didn’t know where we were going,” Lynch said. “There were flames everywhere and we didn’t know what direction to go.”


An aerial view shows wildfire smoke in Lahaina.
Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke via Facebook/via REUTERS

Taxi driver Alan Barrios, 53, also described finding himself “in the eye of the storm” as he fled Lahaina, forced to leave one of his frightened cats behind after it panicked and ran away. “Your heart is coming out of your chest, that’s all I can tell you,” he said. “You feel like you’re running out of oxygen.”

Laren Gartner, a restaurant owner on Maui, told CNN that the fires had decimated cell service, connectivity and electricity on the island, leaving thousands in the dark—likely terrified, lost, and confused.

“Lahaina looks like a bomb went off,” she said. “There is nothing left.”

Smoke billows near Lahaina.
Dustin Johnson/Handout via REUTERS

The Federal Emergency Management Agency described Maui on Thursday as having “widespread devastation.” The agency said it was struggling to assist those impacted because of the island’s relatively small size and the unpredictability of the fires, which were 80 percent contained by Thursday morning.

Hawaii’s tourism authority advised visitors on “non-essential travel” to leave Maui late Wednesday, additionally discouraging others from traveling into the area. Local attention and resources will instead be given to communities impacted by the fires, with tourists urged to rearrange their plans.

For tourists already in West Maui, a “mass bus evacuation” will begin on Thursday morning to take people to the Kahului Airport. Roads were gridlocked with traffic to the airport on Tuesday as thousands of tourists and locals alike attempted to escape the disaster. Late Wednesday, Southwest Airlines said it had added additional flights “to keep people and supplies moving,” and California officials announced Thursday it was sending a search and rescue team to the embattled island.

County officials in Maui said about 1,400 people slept at the airport Wednesday night and another 1,300 in shelters away from the flames.

“These past few days, the resolve of our families, businesses, and visitors have been tested like never before in our lifetime,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video message late Wednesday. “With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time.”

In addition to Maui, officials said fires broke out on Big Island, but no injuries or destroyed buildings have been reported there. The true scale of the devastation may not be known for some time.

“This is not going to be a short journey,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said. “It’s going to take weeks and maybe months to assess the full damage.”

President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii early Thursday and pledged to dedicate federal resources.

The Daily Beast.


Shocking before-and-after images show utter devastation of Maui wildfire

Terry Castleman
Thu, August 10, 2023 

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. 
(Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP) 

Wildfires in Maui have killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more.

At least 270 structures were damaged or destroyed.

Sylvia Luke, Hawaii's acting governor, said the flames “wiped out communities,” and she urged travelers to stay away. “This is not a safe place to be,” Luke said.

New satellite imagery shows the scale of the devastation wrought upon Lahaina, a waterfront city of about 13,000 residents on the northwest side of the island.

On the left side of the image below is an aerial shot of Lahaina on June 25.

The right side of the image shows most buildings have been burned to the ground, and the surrounding landscape is charred.

Read more: 53 killed in Maui fires; massive evacuation efforts underway

The wind-driven conflagration swept into coastal Lahaina with alarming speed and ferocity, blazing through intersections and leaping across wooden buildings in the town center, which dates to the 1700s and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The image below is a closer look at Lahaina Square Shopping Center, which appears to have been severely damaged along with the neighborhood around it.

The fires continued to burn Wednesday afternoon, fueled by strong winds from Hurricane Dora as it passed well south of the Hawaiian islands. Officials feared the death toll could rise.

Read more: Edison football team cancels nine-day trip to Maui because of wildfires

The image below shows Lahaina Banyan Court, a park that is home to the oldest living tree on Maui, and the nearby Lahaina marina, where nearly every visible structure was wiped out.

It was unclear whether the tree had survived the fire.

President Biden said in a statement Wednesday evening that he had ordered “all available federal assets” to help Hawaii. The president said the Coast Guard and Navy were supporting the fire response and rescue efforts, while the Marines are providing Black Hawk helicopters for aerial support in the firefight.

There was no count available of the number of structures destroyed or the number of people who had evacuated, but officials said there there were about 2,100 people in four shelters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


Maui fires: Aerial photos show damage in Lahaina, Banyan Court after deadly wildfires

Emily DeLetter, USA TODAY
Updated Thu, August 10, 2023

At least 36 people have died, officials say, and hundreds of structures have been destroyed as fires continue to rage on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

The fires first began Tuesday, and have since grown and spread in destruction, forcing hundreds of evacuations and leaving thousands without power.

The exact cause of the fires is unknown, although some experts believe human development on the island is at least partly to blame, including nonnative grass planted by plantation owners unfamiliar with the native ecosystem, which is dry and prone to fires.

The National Guard has been activated by Hawaii officials to assist police in Maui. The areas most impacted include Lahaina, a residential and tourist area with a commercial district in West Maui; Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcounty region; and Kihei, a mix of homes, condos, short-term vacation rentals and visitor facilities in South Maui.

How did the Maui fires start? What we know about humans making disasters worse

Maui fires: Lahaina Is ‘like a war zone,’ Maui evacuees say
Aerial photos show damage to Lahaina, Banyan Court

Lahaina's iconic banyan tree, planted in 1873 after being imported from India, was threatened by this week's fires and suffered damage to trunks and limbs, but remains standing, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.

Aerial photos show what Banyan Court looks like after fires tore through the island.


In this image obtained fro the US Department of Defense, a Hawaii Army National Guard CH47 Chinook performs aerial water bucket drops on wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, August 9, 2023. Fast-moving wildfires have claimed at least 36 lives in the US tourist paradise of Hawaii, where rescuers raced Thursday to evacuate more people from the worst-hit island of Maui. Brushfires on Maui's west coast -- fueled by high winds from a hurricane passing to the south -- broke out Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina. (Photo by Andrew Jackson / US Department of Defense / AFP)More

In this image obtained fro the US Department of Defense, a Hawaii Army National Guard CH47 Chinook performs aerial water bucket pick up to fight wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, August 9, 2023. Fast-moving wildfires have claimed at least 36 lives in the US tourist paradise of Hawaii, where rescuers raced Thursday to evacuate more people from the worst-hit island of Maui. Brushfires on Maui's west coast -- fueled by high winds from a hurricane passing to the south -- broke out Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina. (Photo by Andrew Jackson / US Department of Defense / AFP)More

This combination of pictures created on August 09, 2023 shows an overview of Banyan court in Lahaina, Hawaii. The photo on the left was taken June 25, 2023 before wildfires dealt widespread damage in the area. The photo on the right was taken August 9, 2023, after fires had passed through. At least 36 people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, officials said on August 9, 2023 with desperate residents jumping into the ocean in a bid to escape the fast-moving flames.More

In this image obtained fro the US Department of Defense, a Hawaii Army National Guard CH47 Chinook performs aerial water bucket drops on wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, August 9, 2023. Fast-moving wildfires have claimed at least 36 lives in the US tourist paradise of Hawaii, where rescuers raced Thursday to evacuate more people from the worst-hit island of Maui. Brushfires on Maui's west coast -- fueled by high winds from a hurricane passing to the south -- broke out Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina. (Photo by Andrew Jackson / US Department of Defense / AFP)More

A satellite image provided by Maxar focuses on the historic Lahaina area before wildfires which have engulfed large areas of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

A satellite image provided by Maxar focuses on the historic Lahaina area before wildfires which have engulfed large areas of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

A satellite image provided by Maxar focuses on the historic Lahaina area on Aug. 9, 2023 after wildfires which have engulfed large areas of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

A satellite image provided by Maxar focuses on the historic Lahaina area on Aug. 9, 2023 after wildfires which have engulfed large areas of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

This handout video grab courtesy of Richard Olsten taken on August 9, 2023 shows smoke billowing from destroyed buildings as wildfires burn across Maui, Hawaii. At least 36 people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed a Hawaiian town, officials said Wednesday, as desperate residents jumped into the ocean in a bid to escape the fast-moving flames.More

This handout video grab courtesy of Richard Olsten taken on August 9, 2023 shows smoke billowing from destroyed buildings as wildfires burn across Maui, Hawaii. At least six people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed a Hawaiian town, officials said Wednesday, as desperate residents jumped into the ocean in a bid to escape the fast-moving flames. (Photo by Richard Olsten / AFP)More

This handout video grab courtesy of Richard Olsten taken on August 9, 2023 shows smoke billowing from destroyed buildings as wildfires burn across Maui, Hawaii. At least six people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed a Hawaiian town, officials said Wednesday, as desperate residents jumped into the ocean in a bid to escape the fast-moving flames. (Photo by Richard Olsten / AFP)

Waiola Church
Photos from the ground show destroyed buildings, recovery efforts

People watch as smoke and flames fill the air from raging wildfires on Front Street in downtown Lahaina, Maui, Maui officials say a wildfire in the historic town burned parts of one of the most popular tourist areas in Hawaii.

Smoke is seen in the distance while driving towards Lahaina. Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures in areas including historic Lahaina town, forcing evacuations and closing schools in several communities Wednesday, and rescuers pulled a dozen people escaping smoke and flames from the ocean.More

People set up in the War Memorial gymnasium, a shelter that opened in Wailuku, Maui on Aug. 9, 2023. Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures in areas including historic Lahaina town, forcing evacuations and closing schools in several communities Wednesday, and rescuers pulled a dozen people escaping smoke and flames from the ocean.More

Mauro Farinelli and his wife Judit stand with their dog Susi at an evacuation shelter in Wailuku, Hawaii on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2023 after escaping fires that engulfed their town of Lahaina on the island of Maui. Wildfires have devastated parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui, killing multiple people, damaging or destroying over 270 structures and reducing most of a historic town to ash. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)More

Flames from a wildfire burn in Kihei, Hawaii Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. Thousands of residents raced to escape homes on Maui as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil)

A wildfire burns in Kihei, Hawaii early Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Thousands of residents raced to escape homes on Maui as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil)

Maui fires leave wake of devastation: Here's how you can donate or volunteer.
Fires cause delays, canceled flights: Photos from the Kahului Airport in Maui

Passengers try to sleep below a "Welcome To Maui" billboard on the floor of the airport terminal while waiting for delayed and canceled flights off the island as thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui in Kahului, Hawaii on August 9, 2023. The death toll from a wildfire that turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes has risen to 36 people, officials said on August 9. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)More

Passengers wait for delayed and canceled flights off the island as thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui in Kahului, Hawaii on August 9, 2023. The death toll from a wildfire that turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes has risen to 36 people, officials said on August 9. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)More

People gather at the Kahului Airport while waiting for flights Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. Several thousand Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as the Lahaina fire swept across the island, killing multiple people and burning parts of a centuries-old town. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Passengers try to rest and sleep while waiting for delayed and canceled flights off the island as thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui in Kahului, Hawaii on August 9, 2023. The death toll from a wildfire that turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes has risen to 36 people, officials said on August 9. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)More

Passengers try to sleep on the floor of the airport terminal while waiting for delayed and canceled flights off the island as thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui in Kahului, Hawaii on August 9, 2023. The death toll from a wildfire that turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes has risen to 36 people, officials said on August 9. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)More

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maui fires: Lahaina, Banyan Court damage seen in aerial photos


Switzerland Freaks Out After Veselnitskaya Plot Is Exposed

Nico Hines
Thu, August 10, 2023 

REUTERS

LONDON—Switzerland is roiled by controversy after getting called out by a U.S. government agency for falling for a plot orchestrated by notorious Trump Tower lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

“Switzerland is fighting for its reputation,” wrote Swiss newspaper of record Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The fallout comes after the U.S. Helsinki Commission wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggesting that three Swiss nationals—two ex-prosecutors and one former law enforcement official—should be sanctioned by the U.S. “These individuals have abetted Russian nationals sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act,” the letter read.

Veselnitskaya, the pro-Kremlin lawyer who attended an infamous meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner in 2016, held secret talks with one of the men—Vinzenz Schnell—while he was supposed to be investigating the Magnitsky affair, one of the world’s most notorious frauds, which Veselnitskaya was tasked with covering up.

One of the Schnell-Veselnitskaya summits took place in Moscow on an illicit trip to Russia bankrolled by the Russians. Schnell, who was a consultant to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office at the time, was eventually fired and convicted when it emerged that he had been gifted multiple luxury vacations, including a bear hunting escapade, all while he was in a key position investigating the case against a network of Russians who had funneled some of the stolen $230 million into Swiss bank accounts.

During one of these trips to the picturesque Lake Baikal he was photographed with Switzerland’s attorney general Michael Lauber and prosecutor Patrick Lamon—the other two men targeted by the Helsinki Commission—along with senior Russian officials.

Despite Schnell’s conviction—and the details of Veselnitskaya’s influence campaign being aired in open court—Switzerland decided to return 80 percent of the funds that had been frozen by the authorities to sanctioned Russians, as first reported by The Daily Beast.

Swiss Will Send Millions to Sanctioned Russians After Veselnitskaya Plot

The Helsinki Commission’s suggestion that former Swiss officials should be sanctioned has called into question Switzerland’s reputation for the rule of law.

The Luzerner Zeitung newspaper this week bemoaned the way the Swiss justice system had handled the fraud. “Switzerland is under international pressure because of its strange investigations into the Magnitsky case,” the paper wrote, under the headline This Fatal Proximity to Russia.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung on Sunday wrote about “panic” in the Swiss government, and the Watson website explained: “Switzerland investigated in a way that made it vulnerable to international attack—and which is now costing it dearly.”

The letter from Helsinki Commission chairman Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and ranking member Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), dated July 27, made it clear that the apparently tainted Swiss investigation into the Magnitsky affair came to a totally different conclusion than the U.S. government.

“These findings are in direct contradiction to the findings of our government and many of our allies. The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office repeated verbatim the statements they received from the Russian government,” they wrote.

Bill Browder has led a global campaign for justice since tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was abused and left to die in a Russian jail cell after uncovering the massive fraud. “Switzerland has had a long and shady history of providing secret accounts, looking after dictators’ money and hiding Nazi gold. It seems that since Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine, they are adding to its negative reputation by returning dirty money to sanctioned Russian gangsters amid a worldwide effort to starve Putin of his financial resources,” he told The Daily Beast.

Switzerland—the famously neutral banking hub—has largely tried to stay out of the global movement to pressurize President Vladimir Putin for launching an invasion against Ukraine. The Swiss—who are not members of NATO—did go along with European Union sanctions on Russia but they still refuse to re-export arms to Ukraine, citing their neutrality.

Washington’s pressure over Magnitsky is part of a squeeze on Bern to take more responsibility. In the words of Switzerland’s SRF network: “The pressure from the U.S. on Switzerland is increasing.”

U.S. forecaster sees 95% chance of El Nino prevailing through winter


A man walks past the carcass of sheep that died from the El Nino-related drought in Marodijeex town of southern Hargeysa, in northern Somalia's semi-autonomous Somaliland region

Thu, August 10, 2023

(Reuters) - There is a more than 95% chance that El Niño conditions will prevail from December 2023 to February 2024, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday, exacerbating the risks of heatwaves and floods across several countries.

The weather phenomenon, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, is already spurring natural calamities across the globe, with the stakes seen higher for emerging markets more exposed to swings in food and energy prices.

The Climate Prediction Center's (CPC) latest outlook was a slight upgrade from July, when it forecast a 90% chance of the phenomenon persisting through winter.

Earlier in the day, Japan's weather bureau forecast the chances of an El Nino through the northern hemisphere winter at 90%.

The World Meterological Organization had in May warned that the weather pattern could contribute to rising global temperatures.

"In July, El Niño continued as indicated by above-average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean," the CPC said.

Given recent developments, forecasters are more confident in a "strong" El Nino event, with roughly two in three odds of temperatures rising by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) or more in November-January, it added.

The El Nino also threatened global rice supplies, amid a ban on shipments of a crucial variety of the staple from top exporter India, as well as other crops such as coffee, sugar and chocolate from southeast Asia and Africa.

It was also expected to bring drier weather across West Africa, South-East Asia and northern South America, and wetter conditions to southern South America in the second half of the year.

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Seher Dareen; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)
Extreme heat will make Grand Canyon visits dramatically more risky in the future, study says
STARTING NEXT WEEK

Eric Zerkel, CNN
Wed, August 9, 2023

Climate change-fueled extreme heat will significantly increase the risk of heat-related illness for the millions of people who visit Grand Canyon National Park each year, a new National Park Service study found.

Researchers used visitation, heat-related illness, temperature and humidity data at the Grand Canyon over a six-year period from 2004 to 2009 to determine a heat-illness risk baseline, and then used climate models to predict how that risk would change in the future under two scenarios: a moderate and high increase of planet-warming pollution.

They found the rate of heat illness per 100,000 visitors increased across both scenarios. It would increase by up to 137% by 2100 under the highest emission scenario, they found, resulting in up to 254 heat-related illnesses in the park each year during the six-month peak visitation season.

“Even under the best-case scenarios there’s a lot of future risk coming,” Danielle Buttke, a National Park Service epidemiologist and one of the study’s authors, told CNN. “This is truly a human health risk – every degree of warming matters, every amount of emitted carbon matters and every action we can take to lessen our personal impact and advocate for climate action is going to save human lives.”

The study highlights the growing health risk of the more frequent, volatile, intense and exceptionally long-lasting heat waves. National parks have already warmed twice as fast as the rest of the US because of human-caused climate change, a 2018 study found.

“Climate change is the greatest public health threat of the century,” Buttke told CNN. Heat “really does impact every aspect of our lives in some shape or form and that’s why climate change is less about changes to the environment than it is about changes to our daily lives and well-being.”

Heat illness includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and more, and can lead to hospitalization and even death. Heat is suspected to have killed 16 people at Grand Canyon National Park since 2007 – more than any other national park – according to preliminary heat mortality data provided to CNN.

Suspected heat deaths are on the rise nationally and at national parks amid multiple exceptionally long-lasting, record-shattering heat waves.


Visitors watch the sun rise along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park 
 - Mario Tama/Getty Images

Buttke said the study’s heat illness projections could be underestimated because current warming and emissions “closely track” to the worst-case scenario and visitation could go up and put more people at risk. The heat illness data used in the study only took into account people treated in the park and not those who didn’t seek treatment or sought it elsewhere.

“It’s possible these are underestimates because we’re already at the upper level of what our model projects,” Buttke told CNN. “What we’ve seen in the news in recent weeks and months with this summer is that we’re already experiencing much faster and higher impacts than a lot of the models have predicted, so it’s very possible our study is underestimating future risk.”

Notably, the study found the risk of heat-related illness was most pronounced during the cooler months during the peak season from April to September, something Buttke said highlights the risk of not being able to anticipate and prepare for the unpredictable nature of extreme heat in a warming world.

“I think that’s really the take home: The absolute temperature was less important than how expected that temperature was,” Buttke said. “It’s really about whether or not people expected high temperatures during that time.”

Even though heat illness increased during these cooler months, Buttke said it showed that behavioral adaptations, like wearing proper clothing, drinking plenty of water and avoiding the outdoors during the peak heat of the day, could have a substantial impact on reducing these heat-related illnesses and that the park service could use this insight to improve communication ahead of “unexpected” heat waves.

The volatility and danger of heat is something parks and people will have to prepare for as long as emissions and warming continue on its current pace.

“It tells us so much of the impact of climate change is the variability and the unexpected nature,” Buttke said. “We evolved under a climate that was very predictable and climate change is taking us into a new climate that is very unpredictable and that’s where the greatest risk exists.”

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A New Government Agency Is Planning for the Mysterious 'Disease X'
HERE COME THE DEEP STATE CONSPIRACIES
Tim Newcomb
Wed, August 9, 2023




‘Disease X’ Now a Security and Diplomacy Concern
Jose A. Bernat Bacete - Getty Images

The U.S. State Department has created the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy to respond to infectious diseases.

Battling HIV/AIDS will be a top priority, but the bureau will also focus on other health threats, including preventing pandemics.

Health security is now a component of U.S. national security and foreign policy.

The latest United States government agency aims to protect the country against outside health threats. As this is now deemed a national security issue, it’s a State Department mission to make it happen.

The State Department launched the new Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy with the “overarching mission” of fortifying global health security architecture. The aim is to prevent, detect, control, and respond to infectious diseases. This is all part of a plan to integrate “global health security as a core component of U.S. national security and foreign policy,” according to a statement from Antony Blinken, Secretary of State.

“By leveraging and coordinating U.S. foreign assistance, the bureau aims to foster robust international cooperation,” he said, “enhancing protection for the United States and the global community against health threats through strengthened systems and policies. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the vital role the United States must play in addressing global health and health security issues.”

John Nkengason, the Biden administration’s global AIDS coordinator, will lead the bureau focusing on both HIV/AIDS and unknown potential threats—referred to as Disease X.

“We need to be more intentional and really consider global health security as national security,” Nkengason told NPR. Citing the lives and dollars lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, he says there’s a global need to strengthen disease surveillance systems, reenforce supply chain management systems, and decentralize production of health security commodities.

As Nkengason told PBS, the recent pandemic taught us “that a threat anywhere in the world is a threat everywhere in the world.” He noted that it took only 20 days for COVID-19 to spread to 66 countries after first being recognized in China.

The goal of the new bureau is to elevate diplomacy in order to help countries coordinate to address disease threats, advance health security as part of foreign policy, and coordinate domestic efforts as a tool in responding to disease outbreaks.

“When disease[s] emerge,” he said, “they move very quickly.”

Nkengason currently leads the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), started by then-president George W. Bush in 2003. That program is scheduled to end this fall and hasn’t been extended, so some of the work there—Nkengason told NPR that the program has saved 25 million lives and prevented the transmission of HIV/AIDS to 5.5 million children—could transfer to the new bureau if not renewed.

No matter the future of PEPFAR, the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy is tasked with crafting a diplomacy and security plan to handle infectious disease, including Disease X.

“We are in an era,” Nkengason told NPR, “that we cannot plan only for the disease that we have—that we should plan for the long haul.”
COVID IS STILL WITH US
Cats in Cyprus treated with COVID medicine as virus kills thousands on island


BY EMMET LYONS
AUGUST 10, 2023 

The health ministry in Cyprus began administering human anti-COVID medication on Thursday in an effort to stamp out a virus that has killed thousands of felines on the Mediterranean island.

Christodoulos Pipis, the veterinary services director for the Cypriot government, told The Guardian newspaper Thursday that the Cypriot health ministry has stocked 500 boxes of anti-COVID medication in an effort to quell the crisis.
A stray cat eats at a cemetery in Nicosia on June 14, 2023. A new strain of feline coronavirus, Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) -- which is not transmittable to humans -- is wreaking havoc on the prolific cat population of Cyprus

 CHRISTINA ASSI / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

"This is the first batch of 2,000 packages that will be made available. Each one contains 40 capsules, so we are talking about a total of 80,000 [anti-COVID] pills," Pipis said.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a virus that is not transmittable to humans, has rapidly spread across the feline population in Cyprus over the past few months.

Local animal rights activists had claimed that as many as 300,000 cats had been wiped out by the deadly disease, but Cyprus Veterinarians Association President Nektaria Ioannou Arsenoglou told The Associated Press last week that the number had been greatly exaggerated.


A survey of 35 veterinary clinics conducted by her association found an island-wide total that was closer to around 8,000 deaths, Arsenoglou said.

Arsenoglou told the AP that FIP medication can nurse cats back to health in approximately 85% of cases but that providing treatment had proven challenging due to the high price of the medication for many cat care givers.

The infection is almost always fatal if left untreated, she said.

On Friday, the veterinarians association applauded the government's decision to let its stock of human coronavirus medication to be used on cats on the island.

The association said in a statement that it had lobbied for access to the medication at "reasonable prices" since the beginning of the year, when the spread of the virus became noticeable in the island's cat population.

FIP is not a new virus and has been in circulation since 1963. The disease typically spreads through cat feces and symptoms of the disease in felines include loss of appetite, weight loss, depression and fever, according to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Nicknamed the "Island of Cats," Cyprus' link with felines goes back thousands of years.

In 2004, a team of French archaeologists discovered what was described at the time as the earliest historical record of cat domestication, in a 9,500-year-old burial site.

Helen of Constantinople was also said to have sent boatloads of cats to the island to hunt venomous snakes in 400 AD.

Today, a large number of feral cats are known to wander the island although an exact figure is unknown.
FORDISM IS GLOBALIZATION
Vietnamese EV maker VinFast gets go ahead for Nasdaq SPAC listing


Phuong Nguyen
Thu, August 10, 2023 

Press day at the Los Angeles Auto Show

By Phuong Nguyen

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast said it expects to start trading on the U.S. Nasdaq as soon as next week after its merger into a special purchase acquisition company (SPAC) was approved on Thursday.

Shareholders of Hong Kong-based Black Spade Acquisition, a blank-check company, voted on Thursday to approve the merger with VinFast.

VinFast, in a joint statement with Black Spade, said it would list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VFS "on or around August 15".

Remaining shareholders of Black Spade approved the merger on Thursday. In July, over 80% of the shareholders in the SPAC had opted to redeem their shares before the merger.

The SPAC merger will not raise new capital for VinFast but the company's founder Pham Nhat Vuong has championed a U.S. listing as the carmaker seeks to expand in the U.S. market and is building a plant in North Carolina.

The merger had valued VinFast at $23 billion, the two companies said. In comparison, the current market capitalisation of U.S.-listed EV makers Rivian and Lucid are $21 billion and around $17 billion respectively.

It leaves VinFast's existing shareholders, including parent company Vingroup and Vuong, Vietnam's richest man, with 99% of shares in the company.

"The voting results today are a vote of confidence in VinFast from Black Spade shareholders," VinFast's global head Thuy Le said in the statement.

VinFast had filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq last December, but in May announced plans to list through a merger with Black Spade.

Other EV makers including Faraday Future, Nikola Corp and Lucid have listed via SPAC deals but the market for such deals has faced increased scrutiny from investors and regulators.

VinFast has shipped around 3,000 EVs to the United States from its plant in Haiphong, Vietnam. It started to deliver its first VF8 EVs in March. It has not announced U.S. sales figures.

VinFast's first quarter revenue dropped 49% from the previous year and it posted a net loss of $598 million. In 2022, the company posted a loss of $2.1 billion. It has not yet made a profit.

Vuong, who is also chairman of Vingroup, Vietnam's largest conglomerate, told Vingroup shareholders in May that VinFast expected to sell as many as 50,000 EVs this year and could break even as soon as the end of 2024.

The company has previously missed some of its internal delivery targets and faces competition from established rivals led by Tesla, which have been driving down prices and bringing a range of new EVs to market.

Black Spade was founded by the private investment arm of Lawrence Ho, son of the late gambling mogul Stanley Ho.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Susan Fenton)

ONE PARTY STATE
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fires nearly all governors in West Bank in major upheaval


FILE - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a conference to support Jerusalem at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 12, 2023. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has fired most of the governors in the occupied West Bank. The move follows long-standing demands for a political shake-up as frustration grows with the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority. Abbas issued a decree dismissing the governors of eight provinces under Palestinian administration in the occupied territory. 
(AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)


Associated Press
Thu, August 10, 2023

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired most of the governors in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, responding to long-standing demands for a political shake-up as frustration grows with the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority.

Abbas issued a decree dismissing the governors of eight provinces under Palestinian administration in the occupied territory. The upheaval included the restive northern cities of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem, the focus of a recent surge in Palestinian militancy that has undermined the authority’s leadership. Only three areas — including Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority — retained their governors. The president’s office said that he would form a committee to suggest replacements.

Although the decision is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the ground, experts said it signals Abbas’ recognition of the authority’s deepening unpopularity and his desire to show that he is heeding calls for change in the face of mounting difficulties.

"It gives the authority a new face, which is important particularly as the governors are in charge of all security matters,” said political analyst Jehad Harb. “But it won’t change anything really. (Abbas) is trying to rebuild some public trust, but it will take much more.”

Palestinians have not had the chance to vote in national elections since 2006. Abbas’ original four-year term technically ended in 2009.

Although governors said they had expected an overhaul for years given growing demands for change, many said Thursday’s decree took them by surprise. Yet none expressed dissent with the decision of the president, who rule has become increasingly autocratic in the past years.

"I can understand how fresh blood is important,” said Jihad Abu al-Assal, the governor of Jericho and the Jordan Valley. “This is the president’s decisions and even if we don’t understand all the reasons for it, we will comply.”

The move comes as the secular nationalist Fatah party, which runs the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, grapples with mounting crises — internal and otherwise.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has imposed numerous sanctions on the authority, expanded settlements on lands Palestinians seek for a future state and overseen Israeli military raids into West Bank cities that Palestinian officials say weaken their control. Powerful ministers in the government have openly called for the collapse of the authority and the annexation of the West Bank. These policies have been accompanied by a surge in vigilante settler violence against Palestinians.

Internal tensions have escalated since 2021, when Abbas delayed Palestinian legislative elections in which Fatah was expected to suffer another embarrassing defeat to the Hamas militant group. Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 — a year after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Over the past two years, surging violence in the occupied West Bank has added to the authority’s troubles. The recently emerging ties between Fatah activists and Islamic militant groups — particularly in flashpoint cities such as Jenin and Nablus — have rattled the security establishment and underscored internal divisions.

Given that the authority maintains security coordination with Israel, Palestinians increasingly see it less as a government than a vehicle for corruption and collaboration. Public services have declined as strikes for better pay among teachers, lawyers and other civil servants cripple key sectors.

Abbas’ decree also fired three governors in the Gaza Strip, whose role has remained symbolic since the 2007 Hamas takeover of the enclave.

The head of one of the biggest property developers in China was once Asia's richest woman. But her wealth has plunged by 84% since mid-2021 — and now her company's teetering on the brink of a crisis.


Kai Xiang Teo
Thu, August 10, 2023 

Yang Huiyan lost 84% of her wealth — more than any billionaire since the COVID-19 pandemic — as China's property sector teeters on yet another crisis.
Wealth-X; Country Garden Danga Bay/Facebook; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Yang Huiyan, the chair of the property giant Country Garden, has lost about $29 billion since 2021.


Huiyan lost $490 million on Tuesday as her company missed interest payments, according to Bloomberg.


Country Garden reported that sales plummeted by 30% year-on-year in the first six months of 2023.


Yang Huiyan — once Asia's wealthiest woman — has lost more of her wealth than any billionaire since June 2021 as China's top property developer, Country Garden, grapples with a debt crisis.

Yang's net worth has plummeted by 84%, or $28.6 billion, since its peak in June 2021, Bloomberg reported. The 41-year-old's net worth is now $5.5 billion, per Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

These losses come as Country Garden missed interest payments on two US-dollar-denominated bonds, according to various media reports, including a Reuters report on Wednesday. The company now has a 30-day grace period to avoid an official default.

The company's Hong Kong-listed stocks have plunged by 20.4% since Monday. Yang derives much of her wealth from a 52.6% stake in the company, per a Monday report by the ratings agency Moody's. She saw her wealth tank by about $490 million on Tuesday.

Before taking over as majority shareholder of the company from her father in 2007, Yang graduated from Ohio State University as part of the class of 2003 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and logistics.

But Country Garden's fortunes have waned since. The company remains China's biggest property developer in sales, but its market value has more than halved since the start of the year, according to The New York Times.

In July, the company reported sales of 128.76 billion yuan, or about $17.8 billion, in the first six months of the year, marking a 30% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Yang, who became China's richest woman at 25 after the company's IPO, lost the spot of Asia's richest woman in August 2022 to Savitri Jindal. Jindal, India's richest woman, is the chairperson emeritus of the Indian conglomerate O.P. Jindal Group, per Bloomberg.

On July 30, Yang announced that she was giving away 55% of her shares in Country Garden to a charity founded by her younger sister in a payout valued at $826 million, per Bloomberg.

Country Garden and Yang Huiyan did not respond to requests for comment from Insider.

China hailed a property developer with $64 billion in revenue as a role model. Now the country’s property crisis threatens to send it into default too

Nicholas Gordon
Thu, August 10, 2023 

Qilai Shen—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Country Garden was supposed to be a survivor of China’s property crisis.

Officials hailed the company, led by chair Yang Huiyan, as a model developer. It avoided default even as competitors missed payments in late 2021 and early 2022. It delivered its audited results on time, while auditors were busy bailing on the sector. And investors were hopeful that Country Garden, which generated $64 billion in revenue last year, would benefit from Beijing’s promised support measures for the housing market.

Yet now China’s property crisis is getting so bad that even this role model is now under threat, and it doesn’t bode well for the industry.

“If Country Garden, the biggest privately owned developer in China goes down, that could trigger a crisis in confidence for the property sector,” Edward Moya, a senior market analyst for Oanda, wrote in a Tuesday note.

On Tuesday, Country Garden confirmed that it failed to make a $22.5 million interest payment on some of its dollar-denominated bonds. If it doesn’t pay within a 30-day grace period, it will be in default for the very first time.

“The developer’s struggle to address even a modest coupon payment underscores the extent of its cash crunch,” Sandra Chow, head of Asia-Pacific research at CreditSights, told the New York Times.

The bonds in question are now trading at just 8 cents to the dollar, according to the Wall Street Journal citing Tradeweb data, a sign that traders have all but priced in a default.

In a stock filing to Hong Kong’s exchange on July 31, the developer had warned of a net loss in the first half of 2023, down from a net profit of $264 million in the previous year’s period. It blamed the loss on charges incurred from writing down the value of its properties following a downward slide in home prices.

In its filing, Country Garden said it would “actively seek guidance and support from the government and regulatory authorities.”

The very next day, however, the developer abruptly canceled a $300 million share sale, citing a failure to come to a “final agreement.”

Investors now fear that Country Garden could be the next major developer to fall in China’s already yearslong property crisis. Shares in the developer are down by over 60% since the start of January.
Country Garden vs. Evergrande

Founded in 1992, Country Garden stood in contrast to China Evergrande Group, the massive property developer whose default in 2021 arguably marked the start of China’s property crisis.

Evergrande, at one point China’s largest developer, loaded up on debt to fuel its rapid expansion. The company splurged on big, expensive projects, like Ocean Flower Island, a $35 billion set of artificial islands similar to Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

Yet new rules on how much debt developers could hold sent Evergrande into a liquidity crisis, and the company defaulted on its foreign-held debt in December 2021. Other developers, like Kaisa Group and Shimao Group Holdings, also defaulted on their payments.

Last month, Evergrande finally revealed that it has lost a combined $81 billion in 2021 and 2022. The developer also reported $340 billion in liabilities, including $85 billion in more short-term borrowings.

Unlike Evergrande, investors saw Country Garden as far more financially prudent. The developer didn’t borrow as heavily as its peers, and focused on building affordable homes in China’s less prominent and less developed cities. The developer had $199 billion in liabilities at the end of 2022, according to Bloomberg.

Still, Country Garden could not escape the overall slowdown in China’s property sector, and the developer was forced to report a $900 million loss for 2022 after revenue slumped by a fifth.

Yet the hopes of Country Garden’s investors had initially been buoyed by official promises of support for the property sector late last year. The sector received access to billions of dollars in loans from Chinese state-owned banks, as part of a broader scheme to provide liquidity to developers.

Now, more than halfway through 2023, the story is far different. Home prices are falling again: An official index of home prices in 70 cities reported a 2.2% year-on-year decline last month, and investment bank Goldman Sachs is warning of “persistent weakness” in the real estate sector.

Country Garden’s decision to focus on China’s poorer areas may also be backfiring, since home price declines have been steeper in less developed cities.

Wealthier cities are also considering easing restrictions on property purchases, threatening to soak up demand from low tier cities, which account for 70% of national new home sales volume, analysts at Nomura noted in a report last week.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com