Death toll will rise, Hawaii governor warns, amid search in wildfire-devastated town

Hawaii's governor has warned that scores more people could be found dead in the wake of the Maui wildfires as search crews go street by street in neighbourhoods through which flames spread as fast as a mile a minute.

The blazes that consumed most of the town of Lahaina, are already the deadliest in the US in more than a century, with a death toll of at least 96.

"We are prepared for many tragic stories," Josh Green, the governor of Hawaii, told CBS yesterday. "They will find 10 to 20 people per day, probably, until they finish. And it's probably going to take 10 days. It's impossible to guess, really."

As mobile phone service has slowly been restored, the number of people reported missing has dropped to about 1,300 from more than 2,000, Green said.

Twenty dogs and dozens of rescuers are making their way through city blocks reduced to ash. "Right now, they're going street by street, block by block between cars, and soon they'll start to enter buildings," Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for Hawaii's defence department, said yesterday on NBC.

Officials in Hawaii have urged tourists to avoid travelling to the island of Maui, as many hotels prepared to house evacuees and first responders on the island. Many people have gathered at the War Memorial gymnasium in Wailuku, which has been serving as a shelter. Among the visitors was Oprah Winfrey, who told Hawaii News Now that she had delivered personal hygiene products, towels and water in recent days.