An official list and count of missing or unaccounted people resulting from the Maui wildfires remains elusive.

Adam Weintraub, spokesperson for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said a task force is working on finding a centralized way to verify and present this information.

The death toll from the Maui wildfires, which began Aug. 8, was more than 100 on Wednesday as search operations for victims continued.

“Unofficial estimates of unaccounted persons have been running just over 1,000,” said Weintraub, “but there’s no reliable, comprehensive list.”

He said he was aware of crowdsourcing efforts to list people who are still missing, but that there were challenges to verifying the information.

“County, state and federal government are talking about the best way to handle this, and we hope to announce something soon,” he said.

The American Red Cross, because it operates emergency shelters, is fielding calls for missing loved ones to potentially match family members with one another.

More than 300 trained disaster workers from the Red Cross are working at emergency shelters on Maui, which serve as multipurpose centers offering hot meals, relief supplies and health care services.

According to an update posted to its website Wednesday, the Red Cross said it has received more than 2,100 reunification requests and resolved 550, but said numbers were still being confirmed due to a fluid situation.

The nonprofit deferred questions about the number of missing residents to local emergency officials.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday opened a Disaster Recovery Center on Maui to assist wildfire survivors.

The center, located at the University of Hawaii Maui College, 310 W. Kaahumanu Ave. in Kahului, offers a one-stop shop where federal, state and nonprofit partners can help people apply for federal disaster assistance and access other resources in person. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

FEMA officials said the agency has so far approved $2.3 million in assistance to more than 1,300 registrants in Hawaii.

On Wednesday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a White House news conference that at least 40 canine search teams will be deployed to Maui, in addition to hundreds of search and rescue personnel, with more on the way.

She said search-and- rescue teams are working closely with the state to account for those who are still missing — and that they are searching affected areas thoroughly and compassionately while respecting cultural sensitivities.

“This is a really hard disaster, and this is a really difficult search operation,” she said.

The search-and-rescue dogs are walking in the heat through glass and debris in Lahaina, and thus, need frequent rest, which is why additional canines are on their way.

A mobile morgue unit arrived Tuesday on Maui.

Thirty specialists from federal mortuary teams are on the ground, according to Criswell, and will soon be joined by mortuary specialists from the Department of Defense to help identify loved ones.

It will be a long and hard recovery, she said.

“To the people of Hawaii, I promise you this: We will do everything we can to continue to help you rebuild on the island and the island that you call home,” she said. “Together with our state, federal and volunteer partners we will continue to provide support to Hawaii for as long as is necessary.”

FEMA’s Criswell said she would be accompanying President Joe Biden to Hawaii on Monday to meet with first responders, survivors and officials on the grounds of the disaster.

How to get help

>> Where: FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, UH-Maui College, 310 W. Kaahumanu Ave., Kahului

>> Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily

>> To register with FEMA: Call 800-621-3362(FEMA) or visit disasterassistance.gov.

>> Unable to locate or connect with a loved one? Call 800 RED CROSS (800-733-2767) and select Option 4. Call volume is high.

>> To provide DNA samples for missing loved ones, visit the Family Assistance Center at Kahului Community Center, 275 Uhu St., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.