Hawaiian senator claims town-destroying wildfires are 'new normal for the whole planet'

As officials in Hawaii continue to search for the over 1,000 people who remain unaccounted for following the disastrous fires that have plagued the Aloha State, Hawaii Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz said in an interview that catastrophic events such as this are the "new normal." 

“Well, I think we all have to understand that severe weather events are gonna get more frequent and more severe,” Schatz said during an interview with CNN.



He then noted that while “Hawaii is a place that has experienced volcanic eruptions and tsunamis and hurricanes and tropical storms” in addition to “a few wildfires,” there has been “nothing that threatened a whole city.”

“And I just think this is the new normal for not just the state of Hawaii, but for the whole planet for the whole country,” Schatz continued, before delivering his concluding remarks. “So, you know, as we contend with increasing severe weather all the time, we're not only going to need to take action on climate, we actually need to be prepared in terms of our emergency response at the state, local and federal level for the kind of disaster that maybe you hadn't contemplated before.” 

These remarks by Sen. Schatz come just days after Gov. Josh Green (D) revealed that his government is thinking about seizing properties in the seaside resort town of Lahaina, which has been ravaged by the recent fires. Other developments include that a Hawaii government official who is interested in having “conservations about equity” left his position as deputy director of the state’s commission on water resource management after he was found to have waited 5 hours to release water during the Maui fires. 

The fires in Hawaii may very well mark the deadliest in the state’s recent history. Shortly after the tragedy began, Hawaii Democrat Gov. Josh Green remarked that the carnage resembled a “bomb and fire” going off in the state.  

Green also confirmed last weekend that over 1,000 residents remain unaccounted for; many have consequently speculated that the death toll is far higher than the currently reported 114.