The catastrophic wildfires that have been scorching Maui for three days have killed at least 53 people, officials said - a number they expect will keep rising as search teams begin venturing into neighborhoods and homes that were reduced to ashes, writes CNN.

Officials say the devastation is so widespread - and so catastrophic - that it’s hard to estimate just how many buildings were burned to the ground or damaged, but they estimate hundreds of structures have been impacted.

The “older neighborhood” of Lahaina, an economic hub in western Maui that drew millions of tourists each year, is destroyed, Maui County Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. said in a Thursday afternoon news conference.

And with power and cell service out in western Maui, officials don’t know how many people who may have tried to escape are still missing.

“What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history”, Gov. Josh Green said in the news conference after touring Lahaina on Thursday. “All of us will have a loved one here on Maui that we know of, that lost a house that lost a friend”.