The US president claimed flames almost deprived him of his wife, his car and his cat in incident 19 years ago
US President Joe Biden has told residents of the fire-ravaged Hawaiian island of Maui that he could understand their suffering because of his experience of a small fire at his own house in 2004.
Biden arrived in Maui on Monday to inspect the aftermath of the deadliest wildfires to occur in the US in more than a century. The official death toll from the disaster currently stands at 115 and is expected to climb, with Maui County mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. saying that some 850 people are still missing.
Several thousand buildings, mainly private homes, were destroyed by the fierce blaze in early August, with local authorities estimating that more than $5 billion is needed to rebuild.
“I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, what it’s like to lose a home,” the US president told residents of the town of…
