Satellite mobile hotspots reach Maui to try to rebuild communications and find the missing amid wildfires

With communication systems down many people unable to confirm their safety

Portable mobile hotspots have arrived in Maui to restore Internet service and help victims of the devastating wildfire call for help.

At least 67 people were killed by the blaze and the death toll is expected to rise with around 1,000 people on the Hawaiian island still unaccounted for.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green told reporters on Thursday that with communication systems destroyed in the fires, many of those unaccounted for had been unable to confirm they were safe.

“Here’s the challenge: there’s no power, no internet, no phone, no radio. You compound some of that. So when we’re speaking to our officers, we need them to get a sat phone,” he said.

“There’s around 1,000 missing. It doesn’t mean that many have passed - I’m not saying that at all - but because we can’t contact them we can’t know.”

Verizon told CNN that its teams on Thursday had deployed a first batch of satellite-based mobile hotspots at evacuation sites on Maui.

The company was also barging heavier equipment from Honolulu, including mobile equipment on wheels that connect to a carrier’s service via satellite. It was also moving a satellite trailer that provides service to cell sites with damaged fibre connections.

“Our team is closely monitoring the situation on the ground and our network performance,” a Verizon spokesperson told CNN.

“Verizon engineers on the island are working to restore service in impacted areas as quickly and safely as possible.”

In this photo provided by Tiffany Kidder Winn, burned-out cars sit after a wildfire raged through Lahaina, Hawaii, on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. (AP)

According to Poweroutage.us, a website that tracks outages, almost 11,000 homes in Maui are still without power.

An AT&T spokesperson told CNN that it was working to deploy Satellite Cells on Light Trucks, drones with cell support and other equipment on the island.

A T-Mobile spokesperson said its sites were “holding up well” but that power outages may be causing disruptions to service. It says that it is bringing in portable generators to restore power to those sites.

The fire started on Tuesday, fuelled by strong winds and unusually dry summer conditions on Maui that left many residents and visitors in Lahaina with little time to take precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones and neighbours safe.

Some people fled the town with few possessions, while others dived into the water.

Search and rescue teams with cadaver dogs are being sent from California and Washington to help in the recovery efforts, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).