乔·拜登总统周一参观了毛伊岛观察损坏和恢复情况夏威夷岛上毁灭性的野火这个月早些时候开始的。
拜登和第一夫人吉尔·拜登于当地时间上午11点20分左右抵达，离开空军一号后，他们拥抱了乔什·格林州长。
在乘坐海军陆战队一号进行空中游览后，拜登夫妇、格林和其他当选官员走过拉海纳的前街，那里仍然堆满了烧焦的残骸。
在此行的第二站，拜登会见了一长串第一反应者，包括一名给总统送东西的警察。拜登过了一会儿把这个东西放进了他的口袋。
他问这个小组有多少消防队员失去了他们的家园，还会见了一位名叫德克斯特的K-9人，他帮助了搜寻工作。
“有多少消防队员失去了他们的家园，”总统问这群人，尽管在场的人似乎没有人回答说他们受到了影响。
在他的第一任妻子内莉亚和女儿内奥米在1972年的一场车祸中丧生后，总统反思了自己的情感，他说，他感受到了数百名在火灾中失去亲人的人和那些仍在等待失踪朋友和家人消息的人的痛苦。
“知道某人走了和担心他们是否能回来是两码事，”他在巡演期间的新闻发布会上说。
拜登承认这个岛屿还有很长的路要走，但重申联邦政府将继续长期协助恢复、庇护和重建工作。
“我们会一直陪着你。我向你保证，”他说。
他强调，联邦政府“将尊重圣地[和]传统，重建毛伊岛人民想要的建设方式，而不是其他人想要的建设方式。”
白宫发言人在他们抵达之前表示，这将是“激动人心的一天”，因为他们将与家人、急救人员和当地官员会面。
白宫首席副新闻秘书奥利维亚·道尔顿(Olivia Dalton)当天早些时候在空军一号上与记者交谈时说:“他将会见失去孩子的父母和失去父母的孩子，以及在自己的房子被烧为平地时拯救他人家园的第一反应者。”。“所以，我认为对每个人来说，这都将是激动人心的一天。”
拜登总统受到保守派的批评，因为他们认为他对这场灾难保持相对沉默，官员们说杀死了110多人.
然而，上周，总统发誓联邦政府对夏威夷的援助会是连续的。
拜登在密尔沃基参加一个不相关的活动时说:“我们将在毛伊岛呆多久就呆多久。”。“只要需要。我是真心的。”
道尔顿还回击了批评者，称拜登在过去两周一直“参与并致力于”应对危机。
8月21日，当第一夫人吉尔·拜登抵达空军一号听取关于毛伊岛毁灭性野火和正在进行的恢复工作的简报时，乔·拜登总统问候乔什·格林州长的妻子杰米·格林，拥抱夏威夷州州长乔什·格林...显示更多undefined
埃文·伍奇/美联社
联邦应急管理局局长迪安·克里斯威尔周一表示，她的机构已经向毛伊岛的居民发放了850多万美元，其中360万美元用于为8000个登记申请援助的家庭提供直接租房援助。
“我们继续有1000多名联邦应急人员在现场，他们来自几十个联邦机构、部门和部门，”她告诉记者。“有16人仍在避难所，我们有近2000人已经搬进了酒店房间。”
克里斯威尔说，官员们将在周一晚些时候获得最新消息，夏威夷州官员认为这将是完成毛伊岛剩余建筑搜索的估计时间。她和拜登夫妇一起出访，同行的还有格林、参议员布莱恩·沙茨(Brian Schatz)和广野真子(Mazie Hirono)以及众议员吉尔·德田(Jill Tokuda)。
据官员称，毛伊岛约85%的搜索区域已经完成。
联邦应急管理局还向县政府提供了50，000多份膳食、75，000升水、5，000张帆布床和10，000条毯子和避难所用品，供分发。
在周日的“本周”节目中，克里斯威尔详细介绍了联邦政府的一些回应，称拜登夫妇的访问将为总统提供亲自查看“破坏”的机会，同时为居民提供一些“希望”
“我认为最重要的是，他将能够看到我上周去毛伊岛时所看到的，并真正体验这个城镇所经历的完全彻底的破坏，”克里斯威尔说。
“但他也将能够与人们交谈，听到他们的故事，并提供一种希望和保证，即联邦政府将按照他的指示与他们在一起，我们将继续提供资源，支持州长的请求和他们在恢复过程中的需求。”
根据毛伊岛官员的说法，截至周五晚上，奥林达和库拉的火势被控制了85%，拉海纳的火势被控制了90%，普勒胡/基黑的火势被控制了100%。
President Biden, first lady visit Maui to hear from survivors after devastating wildfires
President Joe Bidenvisited Maui on Mondayto observe the damage and recovery fromdevastating wildfires on the Hawaiian islandthat started earlier this month.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived around 11:20 a.m. local time and greeted Gov. Josh Green with hugs after exiting Air Force One.
After taking an aerial tour in Marine One, the Bidens, Green and other elected officials walked through Front Street in Lahaina, which is still filled with charred debris.
At the second stop of the tour, Biden met with a long line of first responders, including one police officer who gave an item to the president. Biden placed the item into his pocket moments later.
He asked the group how many of the firefighters lost their homes and also met with a K-9 named Dexter who has helped with the search.
"How many firefighters lost their homes," the president asked the group, though none who were present appeared to respond that they were impacted.
The president, who reflected on his own emotions following the deaths of his first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi in a 1972 car crash, said he felt the pain of the hundreds of people who lost loved ones in the fires and those who are still awaiting news on missing friends and family.
"The difference between knowing somebody's gone and worrying whether they're available to come back are two different things," he said during a news conference during the tour.
Biden acknowledged the long road ahead for the island but reiterated that the federal government will continue to assist in recovery, sheltering and rebuilding efforts for a long time.
"We're with you for as long as it takes. I promise you," he said.
He emphasized that the federal government "will be respectful of the sacred grounds [and] the traditions that rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build, not the way others want to build."
A White House spokesperson said ahead of their arrival that it would be an "emotional day" as they meet with families, first responders and local officials.
"He'll meet with parents who've lost children and children who lost parents and first responders who saved other's homes while their own burned to the ground," White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton said during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One earlier in the day. "So, I think it's going to be an emotional day for everyone."
President Biden had been criticized by conservatives for what they contended was his relative silence on the disaster, which officials say haskilled more than 110 people.
Last week, however, the president vowedthe federal government's aid to Hawaiiwould be continuous.
"We will be there in Maui as long as it takes," Biden said while in Milwaukee for an unrelated event. "As long as it takes. And I mean that sincerely."
Dalton has also pushed back on the detractors, saying Biden has been "engaged and committed" over the last two weeks responding to the crisis.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Monday her agency had distributed over $8.5 million to residents of Maui, with $3.6 million of that being for direct rental assistance for 8,000 families that have registered for assistance.
"We continue to have more than 1,000 federal responders on the ground and this is from dozens of federal agencies, departments and agencies," she told reporters. "There are 16 people that remain in shelters and we have close to 2,000 people that we have already moved into hotel rooms."
Criswell said officials would get an update later on Monday on what Hawaii officials believe will be the estimated time to finish searching the remaining buildings in Maui. She joined the Bidens on their tour along with Green, Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono and Rep. Jill Tokuda.
Approximately 85% of the search area in Maui has been completed, according to officials.
FEMA has also made available more than 50,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water, 5,000 cots and 10,000 blankets and shelter supplies to the county government for distribution.
In an appearance on "This Week" on Sunday, Criswell detailed some of the federal response said the Bidens' visit would afford the president the opportunity to view the "devastation" for himself while offering residents some "hope."
"I think the biggest thing is, he's going to be able to see what I saw when I went to Maui last week and just really experience the complete and utter devastation that this town had experienced," Criswell said.
"But he's also going to be able to talk with people and hear their stories and provide a sense of hope and assurance that the federal government is going to be with them as he has directed, and we will continue to bring in resources to support the requests of the governor and their needs as they go through the recovery process."
As of Friday night, fires in Olinda and Kula were 85% contained, the Lahaina fire was 90% contained and the Pulehu/Kihei fire was 100% contained, according to Maui officials.
