Hawaii's Maui wildfires death toll reaches 53; A look at impact of swift-burning blazes
Also Read: Resilience Amidst Flames: Hawaii's Maui island after devastating wildfires. In Pics Municipal water systems can also suffer consequences when fire disrupts distribution networks. Whelton outlined a situation where reduced pressure might cause polluted water to flow backward, drawing in elements like smoke, soot, ash, and vapors that can infiltrate materials such as plastics and gaskets.
This infiltration could potentially give rise to long-term issues. “They leach out slowly into the clean water you've just put in, making that clean water unsafe," Whelton said. Elizabeth Pickett, who holds the position of co-executive director at the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a nonprofit focused on collaborating with communities to prevent and alleviate fires, expressed her sorrow for the transformations brought about by the fires.
“Invasive and fire-prone grass species have moved in over time and during a fire they can burn into native forests, which means the forests are replaced by more grass, Pickett said. The soil burns and sloughs off, leading to massive post-fire erosion that smothers coral, impacts fisheries and reduces the quality of the ocean water", she said to AP. The state is windy and the dust blows for years, harming human health, she added.
“When you lose your soil, it’s really hard to restore and replant. And then the only thing that can really handle living there in many cases are more of those invasive species," Pickett said. “It’s systemic.
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