The head of The Disaster Management of the Hawaiian island of Maui steps down. Herman Andaya of the Maui Emergency Management Agency is leaving the service for *health reasons,* the Maui County Board said in a statement. "Given the severity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will place someone in this important position as soon as possible and I look forward to making the announcement soon," said Mayor Richard Bissen. Fierce criticism The reason given for Andaya's departure is striking given the fierce criticism that has been levelled at the disaster response in tackling the wildfires. Residents claim that they were hardly warned about the impending disaster. Governor Josh Green previously announced an investigation into the functioning of the warning system. Andaya defended the decision not to let the sirens go off at CBS News yesterday. He said he had "no regrets" about the decision. "People are trained to go to higher ground when the sirens sound," he said. According to Andaya, the sirens are mainly used to warn of tsunamis. "If we had set off sirens that night, we were afraid that people would go up the mountainside. In that case, they would have gone towards the fire."He added that the sirens are mainly located along the coast and not in the mountains, where the fire gripped around. The death toll from the wildfires on Maui stands at 111. Thousands of people have been left homeless. Of the hard-hit historic city of Lahaina, home to some 12,000 people, about 80 percent has been lost. https://nos.nl/artikel/2486999-hoofd-rampenbestrijding-maui-stapt-op-na-kritiek