Pro surfer Kai Lenny told CBS: "For some of us, we were sitting back and waiting for help to arrive, and nothing was happening. We were in shock. I started getting texts from friends, saying, ‘Nobody is here. Do you know anyone you can call? Can you help us?'

"It started with boots on the ground … let's get the Jet Skis, let's get the boats, let's call the friends who fly aircrafts and charter a plane," Kenny said.

"Then it was day after day … where are they?" Kenny said. "I haven't seen one state, one county, one federal official at any of the donation hubs where people are most suffering."

Lani Moala was relieved to find her home among the few left standing, thanks to a neighbor who doused houses with a water hose as people fled. But the rest of her neighborhood was devastated.

"Everything that way was just demolished. It's just so sad," Moala said on Monday.

Her extended family lost three of their five homes to the fires.

"We're going to rebuild, and we're going to be Lahaina again," she said.

Some residents, however, are worried that the 19th century capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii could lose its character if outside investors are permitted to buy up distressed properties.

The governor said Monday that he is already exploring legal options to prevent any immediate sales of properties that were damaged or destroyed.

"I will try to allow no one from out of state to buy any land until we go through this crisis to decide what Lahaina should be," he said.

Nearly 2,000 housing units, including 400 hotel rooms, 1,400 Airbnb units and 160 private homes were being made available for the displaced, Green said.

More than 3,200 Hawaii residents have registered to receive federal assistance so far, Jeremy Greenberg, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director of response operations, told reporters.